7th Jun 2007 07:02
IP Group PLC07 June 2007 IP GROUP PLC -- MODERN WATER PLC SUCCESSFUL PLACING AND ADMISSION TO AIM IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group"), the intellectual propertycommercialisation company, is delighted to announce that Modern Water plc("Modern Water", "the Group" or "the Company") has published its AdmissionDocument for its Admission to AIM after successfully raising £30 million, beforeexpenses, by way of a placing with institutional and other investors at aplacing price of 119p per Ordinary Share of 0.25p each (the "Placing Price"),valuing the Company at £70 million on Admission. Dealings in Modern Water'sshares are expected to commence on 12 June 2007 under the ticker symbol MWG. Following the placing, IP Group has beneficial ownership of 13,552,200 OrdinaryShares in Modern Water (worth £16.1 million at the Placing Price), representing23%* of Modern Water's enlarged issued share capital. The admission of ModernWater to AIM will result in an incremental increase in value to IP Group (in theform of a fair value gain) of £14.1 million. Modern Water has been established to source, develop and deploy technology-basedsolutions to meet the growing demand for the economic availability of freshwater and treatment of waste water. It is one of three IP Group 'Modern-themed'subsidiaries and will be the first of these subsidiaries to float on AIM. Theother two 'Modern' subsidiaries are Modern Biosciences, set up to address theproblem of poor product pipeline within major pharmaceutical companies, andModern Waste, set up to establish and exploit a portfolio of innovative sensing,monitoring and control technologies and apply them to the waste and recyclingmarkets. Modern Water is initially concentrating on two distinct approaches to the watermarket being: (i) desalination; and (ii) the substitution of fresh water withsea water or recycled water for certain non-potable uses. The Group's strategyis to acquire key stakes in appropriate technologies within these areas and todate has made investments in Surrey Aquatechnology Limited and Poseidon WaterLimited. The Group also has an investment in Cymtox Limited. Placing Statistics Placing Price 119pNumber of Placing Shares 25,210,085Number of Ordinary Shares in issue on Admission 58,862,685Capitalisation at the Placing Price £70 millionGross proceeds of the Placing £30 millionEstimated net proceeds of the Placing £28.6 millionPlacing Shares as a percentage of the Enlarged Share Capital 42.8% Modern Water's Board of Directors Neil McDougall (45), Executive ChairmanSimon Humphrey (40), Chief Executive Officer and Finance DirectorDr Gerald Jones (56), Chief Scientific OfficerMichael Gradon (48), Senior Independent Non Executive DirectorPaul Shepherd CBE DL (62), Non Executive DirectorTrevor Jones (61), Non Executive DirectorMike Townend (44), Non Executive Director Commenting on the Group's Admission to AIM, Neil McDougall, Executive Chairmanof Modern Water plc, said: "We are delighted with the positive response we havereceived from investors. As a business at the forefront of water technology,particularly in the areas of desalination and fresh water substitution, we werepleased to note investors' enthusiasm for the potential that lies in ModernWater's business model. The management team and I look forward to a successfulfuture as a public company." KBC Peel Hunt Ltd is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to Modern Water. *IP Group has a registered holding of 16,427,000 Ordinary Shares, of which2,874,800 Ordinary Shares, representing 4.88% of the enlarged issued sharecapital, are registered under IP2IPO Nominees Limited (a wholly owned subsidiaryof IP Group) in connection with an employee incentive plan. For further information, please contact: IP Group plc 020 7489 5200Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive OfficerLiz Vaughan-Adams (Communications) 020 7489 5206/07979853802 BuchananTim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson, Mark Court 020 7466 5000 Modern Water plcNeil McDougall 07740 930 303www.modernwater.co.uk HeadLand ConsultancyHoward Lee, Tom Gough 020 7367 5222 KBC Peel Hunt Ltd 020 7418 8900 Notes for Editors About IP Group IP Group Plc 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. As at 31 December 2006, 53 spin-out companies had been created among IP Group'suniversity partners. Of those, eight have listed on the AIM market of the LondonStock Exchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been two trade sales. For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com. ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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