Two IP Group plc portfolio companies complete successful second round financings
10 May 2006
IP Group plc (AIM: IPO) ('IP Group' or 'the Group'), formerly IP2IPO Group plc, the intellectual property commercialisation company, is pleased to announce the completion of second round financing for the following two University spin-outs in which the Group holds an equity stake, collectively generating IP Group fair value gains of £15.8 million.
Oxford Nanolabs Limited ('ONL'), a spin-out company from the University of Oxford Chemistry Department has successfully raised a minimum of £5.5 million in its second financing round. Following completion of the fundraising, IP Group will recognise a fair value gain of £10.3 million.
ONL is a nanobiotechnology diagnostic company developing highly innovative products for applications in genomics, pharmacogenomics and high throughput drug discovery as well as for the Home Defence and Security sectors. ONL aims to apply its platform technology to initially provide hand-held diagnostic devices for medical testing. Longer-term applications include drug discovery involving membrane proteins and genome sequencing.
Ilika Technologies Limited ('Ilika'), a spin-out company from the University of Southampton has successfully raised £1.5 million in its second cash financing round. Following this fundraising, IP Group has a beneficial interest in Ilika of 21.7% and recognises a fair value gain of £5.5 million.
Ilika has proprietary high throughput technology for the discovery and development of novel materials. The technology has been demonstrated to significantly accelerate the creation and assessment of materials in a range of markets and successfully establish strong intellectual property (IP) positions in new materials. Products whose development has been accelerated through research undertaken by Ilika to date include fuel cell electrodes, hydrogen storage alloys and electronic materials as well as polymer formulated products and biomedical materials.
For further information contact:
| IP Group plc | 020 7489 5200 |
| Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer | |
| Oxford Nanolabs Limited | 0870 4861966 |
| Dr Gordon Sanghera, Chief Executive Officer | |
| Ilika Technologies Limited | 023 8059 3095 |
| Graeme Purdy, Chief Executive Officer | |
| KBC Peel Hunt Ltd | 020 7418 8900 |
| Megan MacIntyre | |
| Buchanan Communications | 020 7466 5000 |
| Mark Court, Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson |
