Next Biometrics plans bankruptcy filing
Next Biometrics Group said its board has resolved to prepare a bankruptcy petition and aims to file it with a district court on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. The company said it no longer sees a reasonable basis to continue as a going concern without new financing or a liquidity-providing transaction.
Oslo, 9 October 2026: Reference is made to the stock exchange announcements published by NEXT Biometrics Group ASA (the "Company") on 1 July 2026 and 31 July 2026, respectively. The Company's new Board of Directors (the "Board") was complete and operational only from 16 June 2026.
In the 1 July 2026 announcement, the Board announced that, following its initial strategic and operational review, the Company's future strategy would be centered exclusively on its next-generation Anywhere-in-Display technology, and that the Company would seek to divest its loss-making legacy fingerprint sensor business - including through the sale of its remaining sensor inventory and the sale or licensing of related intellectual property, production equipment and know-how - with the objective of using the proceeds to fund the continued development of the Anywhere-in-Display project.
In the 31 July 2026 announcement, the Company announced that it had entered into a conditional convertible loan agreement in an aggregate principal amount of NOK 13 million with certain existing shareholders and the Company's CEO, providing the Company with additional liquidity to pursue this strategy. Since 1 July 2026, the Board and management have continued to implement the updated strategy, including the extensive cost reduction programme referred to in the above-mentioned announcements.
The Company's annual operating cost run rate has been reduced from approximately NOK 73 million (1 January 2026) to approximately NOK 41 million, with the full cash effect of this reduction expected from December. The Company has also identified further cost reduction initiatives, planned for the coming weeks and months, to help bring the cost base down to a more sustainable level.
The Company has further been in active dialogue with a number of external parties regarding the sale of its remaining fingerprint sensor inventory and the sale or licensing of intellectual property, production equipment and know-how related to its legacy business, and has entered into non-binding letters of intent in this respect. However, none of these processes has been concluded to date.
The Board has also been in dialogue with certain of the Company's larger shareholders regarding further funding to bridge the Company through to year-end 2026, in order to provide time for the results of the ongoing prototype development under the Anywhere-in-Display project - which are expected in mid-December 2026 - to materialize. Given the inherent uncertainty associated with the outcome of an ongoing research and development project, the Company's larger shareholders have informed the Board that they are not, at this time, prepared to provide such additional funding.
As a result, and notwithstanding the cost reductions achieved since July 2026, the combination of the Company's historical cost structure, continued severance-related cash outflows relating to the cost reduction programme and the lack of revenue in the period has meant that the Company has not been able to reduce its costs quickly enough, or to complete the divestment of its legacy fingerprint sensor business and related intellectual property in time, to secure the Company's funding on a sustainable basis.
The Board remains of the view that the strategy announced on 1 July 2026 was, and remains, the right strategy for the Company; however, the Board has concluded that the Company has not had sufficient time to execute this strategy before its capital resources were exhausted. In light of the above, the Board no longer believes that there is a reasonable basis for assuming that the Company will be able to continue its operations as a going concern absent new financing or a transaction that provides the Company with sufficient liquidity.
The Board has therefore resolved to prepare a bankruptcy petition, with a view to filing the petition with the competent district court on Monday, 12 October 2026. Until the bankruptcy petition is filed, the Board and management will continue to evaluate any strategic and financial alternatives that may become available to the Company. Information in this stock exchange announcement is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
This stock exchange announcement was published by Lars Bakklund, Interim CFO, at the time and date stated herein. (END) Dow Jones Newswires October 09, 2026 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT) The statements in this document shall not be considered as an objective or independent explanation of the matters. Please note that this document (a) has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research, and (b) is not subject to any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination or publication of investment research.