Graphene-based products supplier Directa Plus shares rose by 41% closing at 105.5 pence last Friday May 27th in the first day of trading on Aim LondonĀ (downloadĀ here the press release).
The company had announced its intention to listing about ten days agoĀ (seeĀ ahere a previous post by BeBeez)Ā and raisedĀ 12,8 million pounds in the ipo, after having issuedĀ 17,033,334Ā new ordinary shares at 75 pence per share, so that it started trading with a 33,2 million pounds market capitalization. Directa plus’s stoks closed trading last FridayĀ atĀ 105,5 pence.
After ipo, the total issued and outstanding number of shares is 44,212,827. TheĀ floating capital is 34,3%Ā while theĀ percentage of the issued share capital not held in public hands is aboutĀ 65.7%.
Lead investor (13.22%) isĀ TTVenture (a venture capital fund managed by a Quadrivio sgr and Intesa Sanpaolo joint venture), which has been the major investors since 2009, when also Como Venture andĀ Finanziaria Le Perray had invested.Ā The latter retained aĀ 5.1% stake. InĀ 2015Ā those investors were joined byĀ Club degli Investitori di Torino,Ā Indaco, Tac Partners and Gruppo VittoriaĀ ina 5.5 million euros funding round. Secondo and third shareholders, respectively, are now the Italia pharmaceutical DompĆ© Group (11.6%) andĀ Unicorn Asset ManagementĀ (9.05%).
Directa Plus has been supported by Ā Cantor-Fitzgerald asĀ Nomad andĀ broker, whileĀ DLA Piper was Quadrivio sgr’s Ā legal advisor.
Founded inĀ 2005 in Usa by its chairmanĀ Giulio Cesareo, Directa Plus’s headquarter was then moved to Italy where an hypertechnological plant for graphene production was builtĀ inside ComoNext Scientific Park in LomazzoĀ (Como). The initial strategy was to create a company that was able to produce sustainable nano-materials at a reasonable price using scaleable production process. The final aim was to focus on specific existing markets and in particular ones where their experience in graphite suggested strong market opportunities for graphene.
