META Materials Plans Focus on Security

META Materials Inc, a developer of high performance functional materials and nanocomposites which acquired security feature specialist Nanotech Security Corp in 2021, has announced details of a restucturing plan that will see it focus on core business lines that are either generating revenues, or expected to do so in the near future.

Earlier this year, the company raised doubts about its ability to continue to operate as a going concern given its high level of cash burn (see CN March 2023), stating that it needed to raise additional capital and reduce expenses.

The company followed this up with a Realignment and Consolidation Plan, which was approved by the Board in June, and which involves a concentration on three core, and productive, areas – Photonic Materials, Electro Optics and Battery Materials.

Photonic materials will be developed and marketed by the newly-created Banknote & Authentication business line. The portfolio comprises META’s proprietary KolourOptik® and LumaChrome™ anti- counterfeiting security foils, which it says have gained broad awareness in the banknote industry, with a number of global currency customers in talks. It also includes QUANTUM stripe, its first fully animated nano-optic banknote security product, which was launched in September and for which orders are now being accepted.

META has recruited two industry veterans from De La Rue to lead the new Banknote & Authentication business – Alan Newman and Mark Spencer. Furthermore, in September it received $6.2 million in new purchase orders; the larger agreement with a confidential G10 central bank customer spans up to five years for up to $41.5 million from initiation.

META also announced the resignation of CEO Jim Fusaro due to unexpected health issues, and the immediate appointment of its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Uzi Sasson, as his replacement.

According to META Board Chair Jack Harding, ‘our strategic initiatives will preserve runway into 2024 and beyond, as we continue to focus on revenue, expense management, capital allocation and R&D needs to drive our most promising businesses. Support also stems from recent multi-million-dollar authentication business wins, our fleet of current customers and projections for sales based on newly commercialized technologies.’ 

As part of these initiatives, META plans to spin-off a number of other business lines in order to capture and preserve additional capital for expenses and R&D focused on core products. The company also intends to reduce overhead and non-essential workforce. The expected annualised cost savings will be approximately $20-30 million, with additional savings possible as the company continues to ‘right-size facilities and spending’.