Semiconductor technology player Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) announced it had completed a $15 million placement today – and its share price dropped 8.9%.

It’s been a wild ride for the company’s share price in recent weeks, with a new patent announcement in September causing the price to rise after it tumbled in August on media reports Archer had failed to disclose objections to its application by patent regulators in Australia.

The company says this placement – and a non-underwritten share purchase plan to existing eligible shareholders to raise up to $5 million – will fund the development of its 12CQ quantum computing chip and lab-on-a-chip biochip technologies and enable it to pursue commercial development in the US.

“We thank our existing shareholders for their ongoing support and welcome a number of new, high-quality institutional investors to our register, supporting our journey towards developing the next generation of semiconductors that could spur breakthrough solutions like quantum computing,” Archer executive chairman Greg English said.

 

 
 

Universal biosensors (ASX:UBI)+1.94%

Universal Biosensors rose slightly (1.94%) after announcing its entered a non-exclusive distribution agreement with Vivelys SAS (France) – part of the Oeneo Group of companies – for the distribution of its wine testing platform device, Sentia.

“The partnership with Vivelys for the French market is a significant step in the commercialisation of Sentia globally,” UBI CEO John Sharman said.

“Vivelys is part of the Oeneo Group which has more than 10,000 customers worldwide and has a reputation for developing and selling high end products.

“Vivelys completed several months of diligence on Sentia before committing to this deal. Importantly this partnership extends beyond the simple distribution of Sentia as Vivelys has expressed a strong desire to participate in the development of other wine testing capabilities to be used on UBI’s Sentia platform.”

The distribution agreement is for a three-year term and by the sounds of things, Vively’s director for development Laurent Fargeton is pretty happy with the deal.

“We are pleased to partner with Universal Biosensors to offer Sentia to French wine companies,” he said.

“We were seduced by Universal Biosensors’ expertise and the practicality of their measurement solution, and so we felt it was logical to sign a partnership agreement.

“With its ability to measure free SO2 simply and immediately, and soon sugars and malic acid, Sentia strengthens Vivelys’ solutions, enabling winemakers to make the right decisions at the right time.”

 

Seduced.

Featured Companies

You might be interested in