Portfolio company OSI announces £230m fundraising

RNS Number : 3898R

IP Group PLC

09 December 2016

 

FOR RELEASE ON

9 December 2016

IP Group plc - Portfolio company Oxford Sciences Innovation announces £230m fundraising

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, is pleased to note that its portfolio company, Oxford Sciences Innovation plc ("OSI" or "the Company"), has raised £230 million in a new financing round via a private placement of ordinary shares.

OSI provides capital and scaling expertise to businesses driven by intellectual property developed at the University of Oxford. Its mission is to build on the University's position as one of the world's leading research institutions, and further to enhance its track record for developing globally successful businesses. 

Following completion of the financing round, IP Group's undiluted beneficial stake of 8.1% in OSI will be valued at £55.5 million, representing an unrealised fair value gain to the Group of £8 million. IP Group has committed a further £7.5 million to OSI as part of this funding round.

The investment round included both new and existing investors including some of Asia's leading technology companies and sovereign wealth funds, as well as European industrialists. Major corporate investors in OSI include Invesco Asset Management Limited, IP Group plc, Lansdowne Partners (UK) LLP, Oxford University Endowment Management, the Wellcome Trust and Woodford Investment Management LLP. Its individual investors include the entrepreneur Sir Charles Dunstone and artificial intelligence pioneer Demis Hassabis of Google Deep Mind.

OSI's capital base previously stood at £350m but, following the round, is now close to £600m.

The information contained within this announcement constitutes inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

The full announcement follows. 

For more information, please contact:

IP Group plc	www.ipgroupplc.com
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer Greg Smith, Chief Financial Officer Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications	[phone] [phone]/[phone]
Charlotte Street Partners
Andrew Wilson	[phone]

Notes for editors

About IP Group

IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company which focuses on evolving great ideas, mainly from its partner universities, into world-changing businesses. The Group has pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised subsidiary IP Capital), networks, recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in approximately 80 early-stage to mature businesses across four main sectors -- Biotech, Cleantech, Healthcare and Technology. The Company is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.

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

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FRESH WAVE OF GLOBAL INVESTORS BACK OXFORD IDEAS AND BRITAIN'S TECHNOLOGY FUTURE

Oxford University on behalf of Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI) today (Friday December 9 2016) announces a substantial increase of capital raised worldwide to scale innovative ideas from the University of Oxford into world class companies. OSI's capital base stood previously at £350m, but a fresh injection of capital will now boost this to almost £600m. Some of Asia's leading technology companies and sovereign wealth funds, as well as European industrialists, are among the wave of new investors.

OSI provides capital and scaling expertise to businesses driven by intellectual property developed at the University of Oxford. The company's mission is to build on the University's position as one of the world's leading research institutions, and further to enhance its track record for developing globally successful businesses. 

Major corporate investors in OSI include Invesco Asset Management Limited, IP Group plc, Lansdowne Partners (UK) LLP, Oxford University Endowment Management, the Wellcome Trust and Woodford Investment Management LLP. Its individual investors include the entrepreneur Sir Charles Dunstone, and artificial intelligence pioneer Demis Hassabis of Google Deep Mind.

Vice-Chancellor of The University of Oxford, Professor Louise Richardson: "We have long operated in a global marketplace, for students, academics and research funding, and know that we have to become altogether more creative in generating new sources of revenue.

This is an extraordinary global vote of confidence in the quality and potential of the research conducted at Oxford. This initiative will bring benefits to the university, to the researchers, to the investors, and to society at large.

We are a cosmopolitan community of students and scholars. We welcomed our first international student in the twelfth century so it is part of our DNA. It should be no surprise, therefore, that we have attracted investment from all over the world."

Chair of OSI, Peter Davies: "Raising this capital reflects our confidence in the breadth and quality of opportunity available to investors in helping the University of Oxford develop a world-class commercial ecosystem around its unmatched intellectual capital and heritage. We are also very excited to be working with new shareholders from across the world, notably from Asia and Continental Europe, and grateful to our original supporters, the ten largest of which have participated in this funding round." 

Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Jo Johnson: "This funding is a further vote of confidence in Britain's world-class research sector and will provide a real boost to local businesses as they develop new technologies.

"We want to maintain the UK's position as a world leader in research, which is exactly why our upcoming industrial strategy will place science and innovation at its core, helping businesses across this burgeoning sector thrive."

The formation of OSI in 2015 represented a determined attempt to overturn a trend acknowledged recently by the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May. In her latest speech to the Confederation of British Industry, Mrs May expressed concern at the UK's long-standing failure to turn research into money-making ventures. The PM noted that Britain has more Nobel Laureates than any country outside the United States, but all too often great ideas developed here end up being commercialised elsewhere.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

1.    The formation of OSI was announced on 14th May 2015.

2.    Oxford University academics have won a total of 32 Nobel prizes across Chemistry, Physics and Medicine. The University's Division of Medical Sciences has been the world's highest ranked for six years in succession, and this year The University of Oxford was declared number one in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

3.   The University of Oxford has a long track-record of developing global science and technology businesses and has established more than 100 spinout companies based on technology developed by University of Oxford researchers since 2000. On average a company has been established every two months since 2005. Spinouts valued in excess of £200m include Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited and NaturalMotion. Others include AIM and Nasdaq listed companies such as Velocys and Oxford Immunotec.

 

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