Nanoco shares fall 45% after plan to leave London Stock Exchange

Shares in Nanoco Group dropped 45% to £3.75 this morning after the nanomaterials company said it intends to cancel its London Stock Exchange listing and re-register as a private company.

The North West business is best known for winning $150m from Korean tech giant Samsung in an intellectual property dispute.

Nanoco said the move would cut listing costs by around £700k a year, lengthening its cash runway as it works to commercialise its technology.

The Runcorn-headquartered group held £10.1 million in cash and cash equivalents as at 19 May, and said it was not in financial trouble.

“The company is neither currently experiencing any financial difficulty nor is it expected to in the near term,” Nanoco said in a statement. “These cost savings will extend the group’s cash runway, with a view to being break-even in the medium term. Additionally, this will also free up significant resource which can be allocated to the achievement of the group’s strategic objectives.”

Shareholder vote

The plan requires backing from at least 75% of the votes cast at a general meeting on 19 June.

If approved, shares would last trade on the main market on 17 July, and the cancellation would come into effect on 20 July.

Shareholders would have limited means to trade after delisting through a matched bargain facility run by JP Jenkins, although the board warned that liquidity could not be guaranteed.

Earlier this year Nanoco ended an attempt to sell its trading business, with the process terminated in January.

The company still believes it would be better off within a larger organisation, and that private status would let it pursue a sale in future without the disclosure requirements attached to a public listing.

Recent progress and cost cuts

On the operational side, it has extended a joint development agreement with an Asian chemical customer by three years, completed its first commercial production order and won £70k of Innovate UK development funding last year.

It has also received further money from its successful legal action against another Korean company, LG Electronics, which concluded in November 2025, and settled separately with Shoei Chemical and Shoei Electronic Materials.

Costs have already been cut sharply. Four board members have left since February, reducing gross monthly cash operating costs by as much as £400k.

The directors said the UK public market remains very difficult for small companies whose technology has yet to be commercialised, with persistent undervaluation and thin liquidity, especially where there is “significant customer concentration risk.”