Nanoco Group, a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, and Wah Hong Industrial Corporation (TPEx: 8240, "Wah Hong"), a leading Taiwanese manufacturer and supplier of optical films, jointly announce that they have signed a supply and licence agreement in the display sector.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nanoco will supply cadmium-free quantum dot resin, manufactured at the Company's plant in Runcorn, UK. Wah Hong will process the resin and then market it to its existing customer base in the display industry.

This agreement marks the first to be signed by Nanoco since the Company adopted a non-exclusive strategy for the commercialisation of its technology in the display industry, as announced on 31 March 2016.

Wah Hong, a company quoted on the Taipei Exchange, has a large operational footprint across China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia and is one of the world's largest manufacturers of optical films and sheets for  displays. Wah Hong has already received significant interest from its display customers following the pre-marketing of Nanoco cadmium-free quantum dot product.

The financial details of the supply and licence agreement are confidential but Nanoco will receive an upfront payment, payment for delivery of quantum dot resin and a royalty on Wah Hong's sales of processed resin. The agreement does not materially affect our expected outcome for the current financial year.

In line with Nanoco's strategy, the agreement is non-exclusive. It runs for an initial 7 year period until 31 December 2023, after which it is renewable by agreement.

C.P. Yeh, Wah Hong Industrial Corporation's President, said: "We are very excited about signing this agreement with Nanoco because it gives us the opportunity to provide our customers with Nanoco cadmium-free quantum dot product, which is the most advanced material for next generation LCD displays. Display makers in East Asia are increasingly aware of the hazards of cadmium and we believe that this cadmium-free product will be an important driver of growth to complement our existing product range."

Nanoco will manufacture red and green cadmium-free quantum dots on the existing production lines at its Runcorn facility. Recent manufacturing improvements, and the anticipated introduction of shift work, mean there is capacity at Runcorn to produce sufficient dots for Wah Hong's projected sales in the short term. Additional capacity will be brought on at the appropriate time.

Following the signing of this contract, Nanoco will work with Wah Hong to produce samples for potential customers after which there will be a qualification process before Wah Hong's commercial supply of product can begin.

Michael Edelman, Nanoco's Chief Executive Officer, said: "We're delighted to enter this agreement with Wah Hong Industrial Corporation, a major company in the supply of product to display makers across East Asia. This agreement marks our first since the Company adopted a non-exclusive strategy in display with the objective of bringing our products to market quickly. We look forward to working alongside Wah Hong to drive the commercialisation of our technology."