Investment into Graphcore

RNS Number : 8658J

Schroder British Opportunities Tst.

29 December 2020

 

Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc

Investment into Graphcore

Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc ("SBO" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has invested into Graphcore ("Graphcore"), a leading machine intelligence semiconductor business, as part of a $222m Series E funding round alongside Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Fidelity International and existing Graphcore investors.

Bristol based Graphcore was founded in 2016 and has developed the Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU), a new type of microprocessor specifically designed from the ground up to meet the needs of current and next-generation artificial intelligence ("AI") applications. Graphcore's proprietary technology combines its advanced semiconductor hardware, the world's most complex processor, with its powerful software tools, to dramatically outperform legacy technologies such as graphic processing units ("GPU").

The market opportunity for Graphcore's technology in datacentre AI compute is significant and its product offering has now reached maturity. Graphcore unveiled its second generation hardware (Mk2 IPU) earlier in 2020, a highly  scalable solution designed to deliver high performance parallel computing, that is now shipping in production volume to customers.

The investment from this funding round will be used to support the company's continued global expansion and to further accelerate future IPU silicon, systems and software development.

This investment is in line with SBO's focus on backing high-quality, high growth UK businesses, with opportunities for significant expansion and a strong alignment between shareholder value and a fundamental positive purpose in society.

With its strong ESG focus, the Company intends to be heavily involved in contributing to the development of Graphcore's ESG credentials and future strategy with a view to enhancing reporting and disclosures in this critical area.

Tim Creed, Head of UK and European Private Equity at Schroders, commented: "We are delighted to announce SBO's second private equity investment. Graphcore is a strong, UK based, high growth business that our team has been tracking for several years. We believe Graphcore has enormous potential on a global scale and has the ability to become one of the most exciting and valuable technology companies to come out of the UK. Graphcore has the potential to become a world leader in its field given its technology is at the cutting edge of next generation computing, providing the ability to process vast quantities of data more efficiently than ever before.  We are delighted to support its ambitions whilst meaningfully contributing to its ESG strategy."

Enquiries:

Schroder Investment Management Limited Benjamin Hanley	020 7658 3847
Peel Hunt Liz Yong, Luke Simpson, Tom Pocock (Investment Banking) Alex Howe, Chris Bunstead, Ed Welsby, Richard Harris (Sales)	020 7418 8900

About Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc

Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc has been established to invest in a diversified portfolio of both public equity investments and private equity investments consisting predominantly of UK Companies with strong long-term growth prospects.

ESG company engagement is a key feature of the Company's investment strategy. The Company's focus is on companies with business models which are considered to be sustainable in terms of both the longevity and durability of their businesses and their environmental, social and governance (ESG) behaviours.

The Company's ordinary shares are listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and have been admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange in December 2020 under the ticker "SBO".

Further information on the Company is available at www.schroders.com/sbo 

 

END

 

 

MSCLZLFLBLLBFBQ