Leonard Curtis selected for Versarien administration
AIM-listed Versarien has fallen into administration. Professionals from Leonard Curtis are currently overseeing the process, as a sale of the firm’s assets gets under way.
Founded in 2010, Versarien was an advanced engineering materials group to exploit the potential of graphene. It listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2013.
The firm’s major discovery was the proprietary graphene admixture A decade later, Cementene. Versarien demonstrated that 20% of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) can be removed from its typical precast concrete mix by using Cementene.
In 2025, this led Versarien to sign an agreement with Balfour Beatty to develop new materials and concrete mixes together. Versarien is also a member of the National Highways Roads Research Alliance and the Digital Roads of the Future project. It worked with Skanska Costain Strabag Joint Venture (SCS JV) to trial graphene reinforcement in 3D printed concrete elements in a phase of construction for HS2.
In spite of this, the firm never actually managed to make a profit, losing millions every year, often with losses outstripping turnover. Latest accounts show a pre-tax loss of £4.3 million on revenue of £2.4 million. While this was an improvement on the loss of £14.3 million the year before, it left the board scrambling for alternatives.
Following a review of finance and investment options, the board concluded in July 2025 that the company needed to begin an accelerated mergers and acquisition process. Despite some expressions of interest being received, the going concern proposals were not acceptable to the board and therefore, given the cash constraints of the business, Versarien went into administration.
The board had previously appointed Leonard Curtis in an advisory capacity in May 2025. Now, joint administrators Andrew Knowles and Andrew Poxon from Leonard Curtis will oversee talks with potential buyers of the firm’s remaining assets.
Knowles commented, “We are disappointed that a solvent sale of the business did not take place, despite reaching out to both industry and non-industry specific parties. However, we are currently in negotiations with several parties who are looking to acquire the business and assets from the administrators.
