Queen Mary Uni Partnership

IP Group PLC 21 July 2006 For immediate release 21st July 2006 IP Group plc ('IP Group' or the 'Company') IP GROUP SIGNS 25 YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH QUEEN MARY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the intellectual property commercialisation company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a long-term partnership with Queen Mary, University of London ('Queen Mary'). Queen Mary is one of the leading colleges in the federal University of London and has a strong research base with over 80 per cent of research staff working in departments where research is of international or national excellence (RAE 2001). It has an annual turnover of £175 million and research income exceeding £40 million (2005). Under the terms of the partnership announced today, IP Group has agreed to work with Queen Mary to identify and facilitate the formation of spin-out companies and to invest an initial fund of up to £5 million in such companies in return for equity stakes in them. Spin-out companies from Queen Mary will also have access to capital from the IP Venture Fund, IP Group's recently launched venture capital fund in partnership with the European Investment Fund. This additional capital will not dilute IP Group's equity stakes in spin-out companies. IP Group will also receive 13.3% of the equity in spin-out companies from Queen Mary at the time that the company is established prior to investment. IP Group will also work on licensing opportunities across Queen Mary and will receive 10% of any income which Queen Mary receives from licensing during the lifetime of the partnership. The partnership has a term of 25 years. Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: 'We are delighted to be announcing this partnership with Queen Mary and are excited by the opportunities that we have seen during the due diligence process. Queen Mary is our eighth academic partner in the UK, and we are very much looking forward to working with them. That we continue to attract such high profile universities is yet further evidence that our business model is robust while confirming our position as the UK's leading university intellectual property commercialisation company.' Professor Adrian Smith, Principal of Queen Mary, University of London, said: 'We are very pleased to have signed this agreement with IP Group, an established operator in the area of IP commercialisation which has already had considerable success in creating new companies based around research and in realising value from them. This partnership will strengthen our existing entrepreneurial culture and enable us to provide additional resources and expertise to support our commercialisation activities.' For further information, please contact: IP Group plc 020 7489 5200 Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer 020 7489 5206/07979853802 Liz Vaughan-Adams (communications) Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000 Mark Court, Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson Queen Mary, University of London Caroline Quest, M.D., Innovation & Enterprise 0207 882 7458 Alex Fernandes (communications) 0207 882 7910 Notes for Editors About IP Group IP Group Plc 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. The group has formed long-term partnerships with seven 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 and the University of Southampton. As at 13 June 2006, 42 spin-out companies had been created among the group's university partners. Of those, seven have listed on the AiM market of the London Stock Exchange and there has been one trade sale. For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com About Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary is one of the leading Colleges in the federal University of London, with over 11,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, and an academic and support staff of around 2,600. Queen Mary has a strong research base with over 80 per cent of research staff working in departments where research is of international or national excellence (RAE 2001). It has a strong international reputation, with around 20 per cent of students coming from over 100 countries. The College has 21 academic departments and institutes organised into three sectors: Science and Engineering; Humanities, Social Sciences and Laws; and the School of Medicine and Dentistry. It has an annual turnover of £175 million, research income worth £43 million, and it generates employment and output worth nearly £400 million to the UK economy each year. Queen Mary Innovation & Enterprise works to protect and exploit the College's intellectual property and to build successful relationships with business and industry so that academic knowledge and expertise can be brought to the marketplace. For more information, please visit our website at www.qmul.ac.uk ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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