Forest of Dean-based advanced materials engineering group Versarien has announced it has raised £650,000 (before expenses) by way of a placing of shares.

Versarien has placed 65,000,000 new ordinary shares in the capital of the company at a price of 1 pence per share.

The net proceeds of the placing will be used for working capital purposes and as bridge finance to extend the company's cash runway ahead of any funds received from asset sales

Versarien says the issue of the placing shares is within existing authorities granted by shareholders at the general meeting of the company held earlier this month and therefore no shareholder approval is required for the placing

Company directors Chris Leigh and Stephen Hodge participated in the placing.

Versarien is pursuing a disposal of assets, including its mature businesses and the intellectual property and plant acquired from Hanwha Aerospace in 2020, and a number of interested parties are reviewing information in the data rooms. The timing of any asset sales and the quantum of the funds that may be received is uncertain.

Chris Leigh, chief financial officer of Versarien, said: "Following the passing of the resolutions at the general meeting held earlier this month, the board has decided that it would be prudent to raise further finance to assist in bridging to the proposed asset sales.

"We look forward to updating shareholders on continuing progress with the turnaround strategy in the coming months."