FlexEnable emerges from restructuring under US control

Business news | February 27, 2023

By Peter Clarke

Optoelectronics Displays & Interfaces

FlexEnable Ltd. (Cambridge, England), a developer of flexible organic electronics, has been taken over by US firm Fortress Investment Group LLC.

FlexEnable Ltd. went into administration on August 5, 2022, under the Insolvency Act. Financial accounts for the year to December 31, 2020, show the company made a net loss of £5.9 million on revenues of £1.8 million. FlexEnable Technology Ltd. was then incorporated on September 9, 2022.

FlexEnable Technology has announced its board of directors and that funds managed by unnamed affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC became the majority shareholder in the restructuring. Kilonova Capital and Taiwan’s Coretronic Corp. are minority shareholders.

The size of investment made by Fortress or what share of the company it owns was not made public.

FlexEnable was the R&D and intellectual property part of PlasticLogic, spun off in February 2015. Its flexible organic materials and low-temperature manufacturing processes, are backed by around 600 patents. Applications include tunable lenses and ambient dimming films for AR/VR optics, electronic privacy screens, automotive smart windows and organic LCDs.

FlexEnable Technology Ltd. also announced the appointment of David Franklin as CFO and Erin McDowell, as Chief Revenue Officer.

FlexEnable Technology said the board of directors includes: Erez Levy, managing director at Fortress; Lin Chen, director at Fortress; Nick Fegan, managing director at Fortress, and Wes Goldstein, managing partner at Kilonova Capital.

Other board members include FlexEnable CEO Chuck Milligan and Mark Verrall as an independent director. Verrall is experienced in liquid crystal display materials. He has previously held the position of senior vice president at Merck KGaA – where he oversaw the company’s R&D facilities and materials innovations.

“These investors will provide great support as we enter the next phase in FlexEnable’s history, moving from prototyping unique ultra-thin, lightweight and curved optical modules in Cambridge to volume production with our Asian manufacturing partners,” said Milligan, in a statement.

In the same statement Verrall said: “I have been working with FlexEnable for many years now and have always been impressed with the team and the unique and important technology they have developed. I am delighted to join FlexEnable’s board of directors at this very exciting time for the company, and I look forward to supporting the team as the technology and materials move into volume production for world-class customers.”