19th May 2023 14:21
(Alliance News) - Nanoco Group PLC on Friday rejected a letter by shareholder Tariq Hamoodi asking for the removal of five of the six board members, excluding only Chief Technology Officer Nigel Pickett.
According to the company's website as at January 31, Hamoodi holds a 3.4% stake in the Manchester, England-based quantum dots manufacturer.
Chair Christopher Richards said: "We continue to emphatically reject Mr Hamoodi's speculative concerns. The board welcomes scrutiny, but his misinterpretation of the past, and consciously selective and factually inaccurate disclosure, including the publication of heavily edited videos, presents a number of events out of context to create a false narrative to mislead our shareholders.
He added: "Mr Hamoodi's proposals would be damaging and disruptive to Nanoco's future prospects and, if successful, would result in an exodus of key talent from the business."
Among its concerns, the Hamoodi group had previously said Nanoco had "apparently transacted" with the minority shareholders to raise finance on terms that benefit the minority shareholders. The letter also alleged some of the statements around the "merits and settlement prospects" in the Samsung litigation "appear to be misleading".
The Hamoodi group said the minority shareholders seemed to be acting on information that wasn't available to other shareholders or the market more generally.
"Preferred shareholders dumped their shares in Nanoco whilst the share price was rising on the basis of statements made or withheld about the Samsung litigation, before it sharply fell after settlement details were published," the group claimed.
Nanoco in February had said it signed USD150 million settlement with Samsung Electronics Co for IP infringement. Nanoco had said it will receive the cash paid in two equal tranches, and it will retain over USD90 million in net proceeds after litigation costs.
Nanoco shares were 2.8% higher at 18.50 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
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