29th Apr 2008 07:00
IP Group PLC29 April 2008 FOR RELEASE ON 29 APRIL 2008 ("IP Group" or "the Group" or "the Company") IP Group: Interim Management Statement IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the UK's leading university intellectual propertycommercialisation company, today issues its Interim Management Statement inaccordance with FSA Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3. This statementprovides an update on the Group's progress since 1 January 2008. Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: "The Group has made goodprogress since the beginning of the year and our portfolio companies continue toprogress towards their commercial and technological goals. We have seen furtherevidence of the success of our multi-channel financing network in challengingfinancial markets, with the announcement of a significant private funding roundfor one of our portfolio companies, Oxford Nanolabs Limited. Our strong balance sheet position, with a broad spread of portfolio companiesacross sector and development stage, enables the Directors to continue to remainconfident of delivering long term shareholder value." Portfolio update During the three months to 31 March 2008, the Group invested a total of £3.0minto 15 new and existing portfolio companies. During the equivalent period in2007, the Group invested £1.4m into 7 companies. The Group has not made anyrealisations during this three month period. The 14 companies in the Group's portfolio which are listed on either AIM or PLUSMarkets achieved a net fair value gain of £9.0m during the three months to 31March 2008. The unquoted portfolio achieved a net fair value gain of £5.1mduring this same period. Portfolio performance for the quarter represents a verypositive start towards achieving our return objectives for the year. The Group's portfolio companies have made significant technological andcommercial progress during the first three months of the year. By way ofexample, Green Chemicals plc announced the successful completion of its fieldtrials for durable flame retardant products, Syntopix Group plc announcedpositive results from a Phase II cosmetic study for acneic skin treatments,while Ilika Technologies Limited announced that Toyota had selected the companyto accelerate their battery programme and that a research collaboration had beenformed with NXP Semiconductors. Significant transactions On 28 March 2008, Oxford Nanolabs Limited, a portfolio company from theUniversity of Oxford developing a rapid genome sequencing platform, announcedthe successful completion of a £10m private financing round, resulting in a£7.2m fair value gain for the Group. IP Group's 35% beneficial interest in thenewly enlarged share capital of the company is valued at £19.5m. Corporate update IP Group is delighted to have announced the appointment of Francis Carpenter tothe Board as a non-executive director. Francis' extensive experience in venturecapital and technology transfer within the European market will be invaluable asthe Group moves towards commencing operations in Europe. On the fund management side, IP Venture Fund invested £1.05m into two IP Groupportfolio companies during the three months to 31 March 2008 and, as at thisdate, had invested a total of £8.6m into 15 IP Group portfolio companies sinceits launch in July 2006. Balance sheet update At 31 March 2008, the Group had cash and equivalents of £41m and continued tohave no gearing. Overall, the financial and operating performance of the Groupin the period was in line with internal expectations. Ends For more information, please contact: IP Group plcAlan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer 020 7444 0050Mike Townend, Director of Capital Markets 020 7444 0050Greg Smith, Group Financial Controller 020 7444 0050Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications 020 7444 0062 / 07979 853 802 Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113Ben Atwell, Rob Bailhache About IP Group IP Group is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company thatspecialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Grouplisted on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. Ithas made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialiseuniversity intellectual property under a long term contract with the Universityof Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to earlystage technology venture capital funds, in 2004. IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - theUniversity of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, theUniversity of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, theUniversity of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University ofBath and the University of Glasgow. The Company's portfolio is diverse with exposure to five main sectors - Energy &Renewables, Healthcare & Life Sciences: Non-therapeutics, Healthcare & LifeSciences: Therapeutics, IT & Communications and Chemicals & Materials. To date,ten portfolio companies have listed on the AIM market of the London StockExchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been two trade sales. IP Group alsoestablished three 'Modern-themed' subsidiaries - Modern Biosciences, ModernWater and Modern Waste. Modern Water was the first of these subsidiaries tofloat on AIM in June 2007. For more information, please visit our website: www.ipgroupplc.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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