8th Sep 2006 07:01
IP Group PLC08 September 2006 For immediate release 8 September 2006 IP Group plc ("IP Group" or the "Company") IP GROUP SIGNS 25 YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF BATH IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the intellectual property commercialisation company, ispleased to announce that it has entered into a long-term partnership with theUniversity of Bath ("Bath"). The University of Bath is one of the UK's leading universities with aninternational reputation for quality research and teaching. In 20 subject areasthe University of Bath is rated in the top ten in the country. Its research,which covers subjects in science, engineering, social science and thehumanities, is extremely well regarded with around 70 per cent of Bath'sacademic staff working in departments that received 5* or 5 rating in theResearch Assessment Exercise. The value of Bath's research portfolio is £76million Under the terms of the partnership announced today, IP Group has agreed to workwith Bath to identify and facilitate the formation of spin-out companies and toinvest an initial fund of £5 million in such companies in return for equitystakes in them. Where IP Group makes an investment from this fund or where it is otherwiseactively involved in an opportunity, the Company will receive the greater of 20%of Bath's interest in each spin-out company and 10% of the equity at the timethat the company is established prior to investment. Where IP Group does notmake an investment or where it is not actively involved in an opportunity, theCompany will receive the greater of 10% of Bath's interest in each spin-outcompany and 5% of the equity in the spin-out company. IP Group will also work on licensing opportunities across Bath and will receivea percentage of any income which Bath receives from licensing during thelifetime of the partnership. The partnership has a term of 25 years. Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: "We are excited to have signedthis agreement with Bath which brings the total number of our academic partnersin the UK to nine. It is also the fourth partnership agreement that IP Group hassigned this year, following similar collaborations with Queen Mary, Universityof London, the University of York and the University of Surrey. It is also thesecond in the region, following last year's agreement with the University ofBristol. We are extremely excited by the prospects at Bath and are very muchlooking forward to working with the team there." Professor Glynis M. Breakwell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath, said:"We are pleased to have signed this agreement with IP Group which has hadconsiderable success to date in commercialising opportunities in collaborationwith its university partners. Bath has a strong track record of commercialisingits research and this agreement will not only provide additional expertise inthis area but will also offer alternative routes to market." The University of Bath collaborates with 140 companies in research programmes,and the University's Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme portfolio is amongthe top five in the UK. "We have a thriving enterprise culture at the University of Bath. Working withIP Group will help to further innovation from the University of Bath's topresearch into the marketplace," said Dr Malcolm Cross, Director of Enterprisefor the University of Bath. "To date, two University of Bath spin-out companieshave been floated on the Alternative Investment Market, and another two spin-outcompanies have been acquired by multinational companies." With the completion of the University of Bath's contract, all four universitiesof the SETsquared Partnership, the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southamptonand Surrey, are working with IP Group Plc to advance enterprise in southernEngland. For further information, please contact: IP Group plc 020 7489 5200Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive OfficerLiz Vaughan-Adams (communications) 020 7489 5206/07979853802 Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Mark Court, Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson 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. The group has formed long-term partnerships with eight 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 and Queen Mary, University of London. As at 30 June 2006, 44 spin-out companies had been created among the group'suniversity partners. Of those, eight have listed on the AiM market of the LondonStock Exchange and there have been two trade sales. For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com About University of Bath The University of Bath is one of the UK's leading universities, with aninternational reputation for quality research and teaching. The University hasclose links with business, with many of its students working for part of theircourse in industry. The University also provides services to help newbusinesses, and its research is the basis for several successful spin-offcompanies. View a full list of the University's press releases: http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/releases/. About SETsquared The SETsquared Partnership brings together the enterprise activities of theUniversities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey. With 8% of the UK'sresearch budget, the Partnership is situated in one of the strongest economicareas. A proven leader in the development of the UK's knowledge economy and theUK's largest collective of 6,500 researchers, the SETsquared Partnershipadvances enterprise in the UK. The SETsquared Partnership: • develops new businesses from university research ("spin-outs") and supports technology companies from the wider business community • collaborates with industry, providing access to university expertise and facilities, and • prepares new entrepreneurs with the business skills to be the UK's enterprise generation. For more information, please visit our website atwww.setsquaredpartnership.co.uk. ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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