Another company leaves the U.K. Plastic Logic

Well there goes another company leaving the UK to set up manufacturing in foreign parts, that's two companies now that have left for the Dresden, BASF is pulling it's weight and landing the deals for Germany, and for it's own means, Why don't we some of the big U.K. companies look at internal investment and give something back to countries that helped to build. How can the cost to manufacture be any cheaper in Germany ? than other parts of the UK /Scotland ? it can't be unless the Government is giving them a helping hand. Have a read at the article below which was in this weeks issue of Red herring.





Plastic Logic Lands $100M
UK-based maker of e-book displays to build plant in Germany.January 4, 2007
By Ken Schachter

In one of the largest venture capital rounds in European history, Plastic Logic announced Wednesday that it had raised $100 million to build a factory in Germany to make display modules for electronic reader products.

Leading the funding round were two investment firms based in Connecticut, Oak Investment Partners and Tudor Investment Corporation. Also participating were Intel Capital, Bank of America, BASF Venture Capital, Quest for Growth, Merifin Capital and Amadeus, which led Plastic Logic's seed financing.

Plastic Logic, based in Cambridge, UK, makes flexible active-matrix displays that can be fabricated like the pages of a book and used to display downloaded content of books or newspapers.

"Our displays will enable electronic reader products that are as comfortable and natural to read as paper whether you're on a beach, in a train, or relaxing on the sofa at home." John Mills, chief operating officer at Plastic Logic, said in a statement. "Wireless connectivity will allow you to purchase and download a book or pick up the latest edition of your newspaper wherever you are and whenever you need it. The battery will last for thousands of pages so you can leave your charger at home."
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The company plans to build the plant, with an initial capacity of a million displays a year, in the eastern Germany city of Dresden and start production in 2008. The company said demand for electronic readers is expected to climb to 41.6 million units in 2010.

The investment is "a perfect fit with Oak's vision of future media interaction through handheld devices," Bandel Carano, managing partner at Oak, said in a statement.

Plastic Logic makes its thin-film transistors using flexible semiconducting polymers. The thin-film transistors control the voltage on each pixel, creating an active-matrix display.

Oak has backed companies including Compaq, Genzyme, and Seagate.



Slainte Gordon