Advanced materials engineering business Versarien has clarified expansion plans for its graphene business in China.

Obliged to keep the City of London informed, the Cheltenham-based listed company said back in April it had signed a "term sheet" with the Beijing Institute of Graphene Technology Co. Ltd ("BIGT").

The agreement covered the proposed cooperation between the parties to develop Versarien's graphene related business in China.

According to the business the term sheet "envisaged that BIGT would provide funding to Versarien for the proposed wholly owned subsidiary ("WFOE") and other corporate purposes in the form of an equity investment".

It was an agreement which would BIGT with a holding of up to 15 per cent of the issued share capital of the company "whilst giving existing and prospective private and institutional shareholders the opportunity to participate on the same terms".

"The company can confirm that discussions between BIGT and the Company remain ongoing and that the WFOE has now been successfully incorporated as the Beijing Versarien Technology Company Limited and the business licence has been granted by the relevant Chinese authorities," said a statement from Versarien.

"This will enable the directors to progress the funding discussions with BIGT. We look forward to updating shareholders regarding developments as appropriate."

It added: "With regards to a reference made by Neill Ricketts, CEO of the Company, on August 8, 2019, on Twitter, that the company had another Chinese investor who was interested in up to 29.9 per cent of the company, the company can confirm it previously received a proposal from an investor that cited interest to subscribe for shares up to that amount, but this was rejected and the board determined that the terms with BIGT provided the best opportunity."