April 17, 2007 – Nano Proprietary Inc. says it has retained Citi’s investment banking division to help review financial and strategic alternatives.

“We have significant basic intellectual property that could allow a manufacturer to have a significant competitive control of huge markets,” said CEO Tom Bijou, in a statement. “Although we are happy with our current strategy as an IP licensing firm, I believe we have an obligation to our shareholders to determine if this course represents the best short and/or long term value to them.”

The firm recently was granted court approval to terminate a license to Canon Inc. regarding use of surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) technology, which has shown potential application in displays. SED products promise better picture quality and consume less energy than current FPD technology such as liquid-crystal displays (LCD) and plasma. SED also is potentially the first significant opportunity to bring nanoelectronics into a volume-produced product.

Canon had took full control from partner Toshiba in their 50-50 JV, SED Inc., which they formed to make and market SED technology-based products, in an effort to smooth its dispute with Nano-Proprietary. However, the US firm has indicated it will continue with plans to terminate the license, though expressed willingness to negotiate a new contract.