Holding(s) in Company

20 July 2009
For immediate release

                               IQE plc
                      ("IQE" or the "Company")





+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARESi                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                     |             |
|-----------------------------------------------------+-------------|
| 1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer  |             |
| of existing shares to which voting rights are       |     IQE Plc |
| attached: ii                                        |             |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or |
| boxes):                                                           |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| An acquisition or disposal of voting rights               |  No   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-------|
| An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial        |       |
| instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares |  No   |
| already issued to which voting rights are attached        |       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-------|
| An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar    |  Yes  |
| economic effect to qualifying financial instruments       |       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-------|
| An event changing the breakdown of voting rights          |  No   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-------|
| Other (please specify):     | Changes to disclosure       |  No   |
|                             | requirements                |       |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3. Full name of person(s) subject to the    | Gartmore Investment |
| notification obligation: iii                | Limited             |
|---------------------------------------------+---------------------|
| 4. Full name of shareholder(s)              | See below           |
|  (if different from 3.):iv                  |                     |
|---------------------------------------------+---------------------|
| 5. Date of the transaction and date on      |                     |
| which the threshold is crossed or           | 15th July 2009      |
| reached: v                                  |                     |
|---------------------------------------------+---------------------|
| 6. Date on which issuer notified:           | 16th July 2009      |
|---------------------------------------------+---------------------|
| 7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or      | 13%                 |
| reached: vi, vii                            |                     |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+



+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|8. Notified details:                                                                                  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|A: Voting rights attached to shares viii, ix                                                          |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Class/type of    |Situation previous            |Resulting situation after the triggering transaction |
|shares           |to the triggering             |                                                     |
|if possible using|transaction                   |                                                     |
|the ISIN CODE    |------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|                 |Number           |Number      |Number    |Number of voting    |% of  voting rights x|
|                 |of               |of          |of shares |rights              |                     |
|                 |Shares           |Voting      |----------+--------------------+---------------------|
|                 |                 |Rights      |Direct    |Direct |Indirect xii|Direct    |Indirect  |
|                 |                 |            |          |xi     |            |          |          |
|-----------------+-----------------+------------+----------+-------+------------+----------+----------|
|GB0009619924     |41,886,194       |41,886,194  |43,551,194|       |43,551,194  |          |9.976%    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|B: Qualifying Financial Instruments                                                                   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Resulting situation after the triggering transaction                                                  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Type of financial         |Expiration    |Exercise/             |Number of voting      |% of voting   |
|instrument                |date xiii     |Conversion Period xiv |rights that may be    |rights        |
|                          |              |                      |acquired if the       |              |
|                          |              |                      |instrument is         |              |
|                          |              |                      |exercised/ converted. |              |
|--------------------------+--------------+----------------------+----------------------+--------------|
|                          |              |                      |                      |              |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments xv, xvi     |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Resulting situation after the triggering transaction                                                  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Type of financial |Exercise price  |Expiration|Exercise/   |Number of voting rights|% of voting rights|
|instrument        |                |date xvii |Conversion  |instrument refers to   |xix, xx           |
|                  |                |          |period xviii|                       |                  |
|------------------+----------------+----------+------------+-----------------------+------------------|
|                  |                |          |            |                       |Nominal   |Delta  |
|CFD               |n/a             |n/a       |n/a         |14,750,000             |----------+-------|
|                  |                |          |            |                       |3.382%    |       |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Total (A+B+C)                                                                                         |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Number of voting rights                               |Percentage of voting rights                    |
|------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
|58,261,194                                            |13.357%                                        |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+



+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting      |
| rights and/or the                                                 |
| financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable: xxi    |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Proxy Voting:                                                     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10. Name of the proxy holder:                               |     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------+-----|
| 11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease         |     |
| to hold:                                                    |     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------+-----|
| 12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold           |     |
| voting rights:                                              |     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                  |                                |
|----------------------------------+--------------------------------|
|                                  |                                |
|----------------------------------+--------------------------------|
|                                  |                                |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

Current Holdings by Instrument Type



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|            |Fund       |Shares held|% of   |UK Registered  |Beneficial Owner   |
|            |Managing   |           |Issued |Owner          |                   |
|            |Company    |           |Share  |               |                   |
|            |           |           |Capital|               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |           |           |       |               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|Equities    |           |           |       |               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |Gartmore   |           |       |HSBC Global    |Gartmore Fund      |
|            |Fund       | 17,824,080| 4.086%|Custody Nominee|Managers Ltd A/C   |
|            |Managers   |           |       |UK Ltd         |Gartmore UK & Irish|
|            |Limited    |           |       |               |Smaller Companies  |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |Gartmore   |           |       |Nortrust       |Strathclyde Pension|
|            |Investment | 15,621,829| 3.584%|Nominees Ltd   |Fund               |
|            |Limited    |           |       |               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |           |  4,640,285| 1.064%|Gartmore Growth|Gartmore Growth    |
|            |           |           |       |Opportunities  |Opportunities Plc  |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |           |           |       |BNY GIL CLT    |Gartmore Fledgling |
|            |           |  5,425,000| 1.244%|Account        |Trust plc          |
|            |           |           |       |Nominees Ltd   |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |Total      | 43,511,194| 9.976%|               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |           |           |       |               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|Contract for|           |           |       |               |                   |
|Difference  |           |           |       |               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |Gartmore   |           |       |Vidacos        |The Alphagen       |
|            |Investment | 14,750,000| 3.382%|Nominees Ltd   |Volantis Fund      |
|            |Limited    |           |       |A/C 2303       |Limited            |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |Total      | 14,750,000| 3.382%|               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |           |           |       |               |                   |
|------------+-----------+-----------+-------+---------------+-------------------|
|            |Grand Total| 58,261,194|13.357%|               |                   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+



Contacts:

IQE plc ([phone])
Chris Meadows

Noble & Company Limited (+ 44 20 7763 2200)
John Llewellyn-Lloyd
Sam Reynolds

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