New fund management mandate

RNS Number : 9823F

IP Group PLC

22 January 2010

 

22 January 2010

IP Group wins mandate to manage £25m North East Technology Fund

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or the "Company" or "Group"), the intellectual property commercialisation company, is pleased to announce that it has won the mandate to manage a £25m North East Technology Fund ("the Fund").

The Fund will invest in technology companies in the North East region from seed through to growth stages of development including opportunities from the leading research universities based in the region.

The Fund will be managed by IP Group's FSA-regulated venture capital fund management subsidiary, Top Technology Ventures Limited, from offices in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Group will receive management fees and has the potential to generate performance fees from successful investment of the Fund. In addition, the Group will be able to co-invest alongside the Fund in appropriate opportunities.

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer of IP Group, said: "We are delighted to have won the mandate to manage the £25m technology fund for North East of England which we believe brings significant benefits to the Group. We are in the process of establishing an office and team in Newcastle and look forward to working to deploy the Fund in the region which we believe has exceptional investment potential."

The Fund is part of the £125m JEREMIE venture capital fund (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises Initiative) -- the first fund of its type in England. The North East JEREMIE will be jointly funded by the European Investment Bank, which will contribute £62.5m with the European Regional Development Fund 2007-13 and Regional Development Agency One North East jointly investing a further £62.5m.

For more information, please contact:

IP Group plc
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer	[phone]
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications	[phone] / 07979 853 802
Financial Dynamics	[phone]
Ben Atwell, John Dineen

Notes for editors

About IP Group

IP Group is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company that specialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Group listed on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. It has made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialise university intellectual property under a long term contract with the University of Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to early stage technology venture capital funds, in 2004.

IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - the University of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, the University of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, the University of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University of Bath 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 & Life Sciences: Therapeutics, IT & Communications and Chemicals & Materials. To date, eleven portfolio companies have listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been four trade sales.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.

For more information on the North East Technology Fund, please visit www.thenortheasttechnologyfund.com.

About One North East

One North East is the Regional Development Agency for North East England, helping lead the sustainable economic growth of the region.

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