Further portfolio investments

20 August 2010

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Further investments in portfolio companies

London, 20 August 2010. Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, or 'Innovations'), a leading technology commercialisation and investment company, announces further investments in its portfolio companies Plaxica and Nexeon.

Innovations has invested a further £1.2m in Plaxica alongside investment of £1.8m from existing shareholders NESTA, Invesco Perpetual and the Carbon Trust, as part of a £3.0m round. Plaxica is developing next-generation biopolymers as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional oil-based plastics that are produced in large volumes.

Plaxica's technology uses sustainable feedstocks and a more energy efficient production process to produce a biopolymer known as polylactic acid (PLA). The goal is to commercialise a lower-cost but stronger and higher-quality polymer for use in applications as diverse as packaging, textiles, electronics and automobile parts. Funds will be used to accelerate development of the technology and scale its production. Following the investment, Innovations' shareholding has increased to 41.4%, or 35.3% on a fully diluted basis. Susan Searle, chief executive of Innovations, is a non-executive director of Plaxica.

Innovations has also increased its investment in Nexeon, a developer of advanced materials that enhance the cycle life and capacity of rechargeable batteries. Innovations acquired 3.31% of Nexeon from Partnerships UK, increasing its holding to 41.8%, or 35.0% on a fully diluted basis. Paul Atherton, non-executive director of Innovations, is chairman of Nexeon; Russ Cummings, chief investment officer of Innovations, is a non-executive director of Nexeon.

Susan Searle, chief executive of Innovations, said:

"These additional investments underline our confidence in Plaxica and Nexeon, which are increasingly important and valuable companies in our portfolio."

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Notes to editors

Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk 

Innovations creates, builds and invests in pioneering technologies addressing global problems in healthcare, energy and engineering. It combines deep understanding of science and technology with commercial acumen and strong investment expertise. 

Innovations supports scientist-entrepreneurs in the commercialisation of their ideas by:

·; leading the formation of new companies and providing facilities in the early stages

·; providing significant investment and encouraging co-investment to accelerate the transition from R&D to products 

·; providing operational expertise

·; helping to recruit high-calibre industry figures and experienced entrepreneurs as executive management and Board members.

Innovations has exclusive access to scientific and technological developments coming out of Imperial College London, one of the world's leading research institutions. It has already achieved significant success with its early investments; for example its £1.5m investment in obesity drug developer Thiakis could return up to £22m, following its sale to Wyeth for £100m in 2008, while the sale of Respivert, a small molecule drug discovery company resulted in Innovations realising £9.5m, a 4.7x return on investment.

In the year to July 2009, Innovations invested £14.4m in 20 ventures, helping to launch six new companies. With a technology portfolio of more than 80 companies, Innovations' most advanced assets, in addition to Thiakis, include:

·; Ceres Power (now listed on AIM): Micro combined heat and power generators for domestic use

·; Circassia: Innovative vaccines for the treatment of a wide range of allergies

·; Nexeon: Advanced materials that extend the cycle life and significantly increase capacity of rechargeable batteries

·; Veryan: Stents inspired by the human vascular system