Nanoco Group PLC (LSE:NANO) shares plunged 21% after it revealed than Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) has agreed to pay a definitive US$150mln legal settlement, some of which will be paid out to shareholders.
The South Korean tech giant has signed an agreement to settle the lawsuit filed by the UK tech minnow over alleged infringement of its intellectual property.
After its own legal costs, it will mean Nanoco will retain a little over US$90mln in net proceeds as it receives two payments of US$75mln, by 5 March 2023 and 3 February 2024.
As part of the “no fault” settlement, Samsung has purchased what Nanoco said were “non-core” patents and a “global, perpetual, fully paid up licence agreement”.
Nanoco chairman Chris Richards said it had been a “long and hard battle” and the outcome “is remarkable, given the relative scale of Nanoco and Samsung”, with chief executive Brian Tenner pointing out that they had achieved legal success against “one of the world's biggest electronics companies, who were advised by one of the most expensive law firms in the world”.
“Others operating in our space should take note,” Tenner said.
Net proceeds will be balanced between investment in the company with a “firm intention to deliver a material return of capital to shareholders”.
Tenner said the company remained “vigilant to other potential infringement activity, as well as opportunities to pro-actively deliver new licence agreements. The confirmation of the validity of our IP is already encouraging more commercial interest in Nanoco as a supplier of leading edge nano-materials.”
In a separate trading statement the company said revenue for the year is in line with board expectations and adjusted EBITDA losses are expected to be smaller than forecast, helped by cost management and currency tailwinds.