- Profitable sale to strategic investor
- Proceeds to be reinvested in new fund shareholdings
Frankfurt / Singapore – December 23, 2010 – Nanostart Asia, a subsidiary of Nanostart AG (OTCQX: NASRY), has announced the sale of its ownership stake in Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd – held through the Nanostart Singapore Early Stage Venture Fund – to a strategic investor, the Zicom Group. An undisclosed profit was achieved with the sale.
The sale of shares took place within the framework of a Curiox capital increase, in which the Zicom Group simultaneously took control of the Nanostart Asia share in Curiox. As a new strategic investor in Curiox, Zicom will own nearly 41 percent of shares.
"We already decided at a relatively early stage to sell our share in Curiox to the Zicom Group, an investor with a strategic interest. We remain convinced of the developmental potential of Curiox," explains Andreas Kröll, managing director of Nanostart Asia. "We carefully compared the additional financial costs and our earnings forecast for invested capital with our overall earnings goals."
Sales proceeds received by Nanostart for its shares in Curiox will not be distributed as dividends and therefore will not impact results at the Nanostart AG level. Instead they will flow back into the fund and be invested in new shareholdings.
In 2007, Curiox Biosystems was the first shareholding financed by Nanostart AG in Singapore. Curiox has developed a process for analyzing aqueous bioprobes that requires only a fraction – an average of one hundredth – of the usually required testing quantity.
The Nanostart Singapore Early Stage Venture Fund I was the first private investment fund to be launched by Nanostart AG as a segregated vehicle, a structure typical in the venture capital industry. The government of Singapore has, through its National Research Foundation (NRF), invested SGD 10 million (approx. EUR 5 million) in this fund dedicated to bringing the most promising nanotechnology-based startups in Singapore to successful commercialization. The fund is managed by Nanostart Asia Pte Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of Nanostart AG.
The acquiring company, Zicom Group, is a leading specialist equipment manufacturer and niche engineering service provider with core expertise in mechanical, hydraulics, precision, and instrumentation engineering.
About Nanostart:
Nanostart AG (OTCQX: NASRY), headquartered in the German financial capital of Frankfurt, is the world’s leading nanotechnology investment company, with portfolio companies spanning the globe from Silicon Valley to Singapore. The company provides venture capital financing for nanotechnology companies in various growth phases with a focus on innovation-driven industries of the future such as cleantech, life sciences and IT/electronics. Through its subsidiary, Nanostart Asia (www.nanostart-asia.com), and venture capital fund in Singapore, Nanostart is proud to be the investment partner of the Singaporean government. For further information about the company, please visit www.nanostart.de.
Disclaimer:
This notice constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe to securities. There will be no public offering of securities of Nanostart AG in conjunction with the existing listing of its shares in the “Entry Standard” segment of the regulated unofficial market (Freiverkehr) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This notice does not constitute a securities prospectus. Neither this notice nor the information contained within is intended for direct or indirect distribution within Canada, Australia or Japan.
Media contact:
Nanostart AG
Public Relations
Dr. Hans Joachim Dürr
Goethestrasse 26-28
D-60313 Frankfurt
GermanyTel: +49 69-21 93 96 111
Fax: +49 69-21 93 96 122
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