14th Mar 2005 07:01
IP2IPO Group PLC14 March 2005 For Immediate Release 14 March 2005 IP2IPO Group plc Holding in Company IP2IPO Group plc ("IP2IPO" or "the Company") (AIM: IPO), the intellectualproperty company that commercialises university technology, has been informed byEvolution Group plc ("Evolution") that it has disposed of its 17.4% holding inthe Company through the sale of 7,502,170 shares to institutional investors.Evolution no longer has an interest in the Company's shares. David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer of IP2IPO, said: "I am delighted towelcome new institutional shareholders to the Company, whose shareholder basehas developed substantially since flotation in October 2003 as underlined bythis announcement." -Ends- For more information please contact: IP2IPODavid Norwood, Chief Executive Officer 020 7242 9900 Buchanan CommunicationsTim Anderson, Mark Court, Mary-Jane Johnson 020 7466 5000 Notes to editors About IP2IPO IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises incommercialising university technology. The Company was founded in 2001 andlisted on AIM in October 2003. IP2IPO's first partnership was with theUniversity of Oxford. In return for an investment of £20 million, IP2IPO hasacquired 50 per cent of the University of Oxford's equity in spin-out companiesand technology licenses based on intellectual property created at the ChemistryDepartment until 2015. In November 2003, IP2IPO created a £5 million seedcapital fund for investing in spin-out companies across the University ofOxford, not just those originating within the Chemistry Department. In March2002, IP2IPO entered into a second long-term partnership with the University ofSouthampton. Under the terms of this partnership, IP2IPO is committed to workingwith the University of Southampton in the identification and facilitation ofspin-out companies from across the University of Southampton and to investing £5million in early-stage University of Southampton spin-out companies over a fouryear period in return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPOalso received a 20 per cent stake in Southampton Asset Management Limited, acompany that has been formed to hold the University's equity stakes in itsfuture spin-out companies. The partnership has a term of at least 25 years. IP2IPO entered into its third long-term partnership in May 2003 with King'sCollege London. IP2IPO will work with King's College London to help identify andprogress commercialisation opportunities as well as invest £5 million in seedcapital in spin-out companies from King's College London over a five year periodin return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPO will receive20 per cent of King's College London's equity in spin-out companies andtechnology licenses. The partnership has an initial term of 25 years. In October 2003, IP2IPO announced a fourth partnership with the Centre for NovelAgricultural Products ("CNAP"), based at the University of York. CNAP is aflagship research centre that specialises in plant and microbial gene discovery.Under the terms of the partnership a new company, Amaethon Limited, has beencreated which has the right to commercialise CNAP's IP for 25 years. IP2IPO hascommitted to invest £1.15m in Amaethon Limited in return for a one third equitystake in Amaethon Limited (the remaining equity being owned by the University ofYork) and will also invest in the spin-out companies based on CNAP's IP whichAmaethon Limited creates. In July 2004, IP2IPO acquired a strategic 20% stake in Techtran Group Limited("Techtran"), acquiring the remaining 80% stake in January 2005. Techtran has along-term technology commercialisation contract with the University of Leeds.Techtran receives a significant (30%) interest in spin-out companies created andtechnology licences negotiated in return for the provision of technologytransfer services to the University. In June 2004, IP2IPO acquired Top Technology Ventures Limited, an investmentadviser to early stage technology funds. This combines IP2IPO's expertise in thecreation of new ventures based on world leading university IP with TopTechnology's focus on making early stage venture capital investments. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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