Prospective Fund Management Agreement

RNS Number : 1375F

Frontier IP Group plc

12 June 2012

 



AIM: FIPP

 

Frontier IP Group Plc

("Frontier IP" or "the Company")

 

 

Fund Management Agreement with Narec Capital Limited

Frontier IP, which specialises in the commercialisation of IP, is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement with Narec Capital Limited ("Narec Capital"), the provider of consultancy and finance services to companies in the renewable energy sector.  The agreement confirms Narec Capital's intention to appoint Frontier IP as its provider of fund management and administration services to a portfolio of renewable energy funds which it intends to launch later this year.  The focus of this funding initiative will be on providing early-stage capital in order to accelerate the deployment and reduce the cost per megawatt hour of renewable energy technologies and projects.

Once the funds are established, under the terms of the agreement, Frontier IP will receive fees arising from the introduction of investors and the provision of fund management services to the funds as well as investment deal fees and carried interest from the funds under management.  Frontier IP expects that the benefits arising from the agreement will be reflected in its new financial year, to 30 June 2013.  In line with existing arrangements, certain regulated activities will be provided through Sigma Technology Management Limited, the FSA authorised and regulated subsidiary of Sigma Capital Group plc, a shareholder in the Company.

Narec Capital selected Frontier IP as its partner based on the Company's experience of IP-orientated funds, as well as its knowledge of the renewable energy sector.

Narec Capital is part of the Narec Group and a joint venture between Narec, the UK's national research centre for accelerating the deployment of offshore renewable energy technologies, and Ashberg Ltd (a fully regulated financial services entity).  Narec is currently investing over £150m of public and private finance to establish the UK's offshore renewable innovation facilities.  The new funds which Narec Capital will be launching will support the ongoing delivery of renewable energy projects emerging from sources including utilities, manufacturers, universities and research centres.

Neil Crabb, Executive Chairman of Frontier IP, commented,

"I am delighted to be signing this agreement with Narec Capital, partner of the UK's national research centre for advancing the development of renewable energy through technology-led innovation. We believe that our expertise in both in IP-orientated funds and the renewable energy sector means that we are ideally suited to partner with Narec Capital."

Jerry Biggs, CEO of Narec Capital, said,

"The strengths of Frontier IP strongly complement those of Narec Capital and will enable us to move quickly to launch our first fund later this year.  The combination of Frontier IP's outstanding track record in early stage investing combined with our unique ability to select and de-risk promising clean technology companies,  will bring much-needed additional financial capacity to the renewable sector."

Andrew Mill, CEO of Narec, commented,

"The funds to be put in place by Narec Capital and managed by Frontier IP will help address the acute funding gap being experienced by many clean technology companies. These companies are often of paramount importance to reducing the cost and deployment time frame of renewable energy projects. The combination of Narec's leading renewable test assets with the financial skill of Narec Capital and Frontier IP will optimise the  ability to pick promising technologies and apply investment, within a risk controlled environment."

Enquiries

Company website: www.frontierip.co.uk 

Frontier IP Group Plc		T: 0131 220 9491
Neil Crabb, Executive Chairman
Narec Capital Mark Pearson, Head of Business Development		T: 07788916441
Fairfax IS PLC		T: 020 7598 5368
(Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Stuart Gledhill / Katy Birkin
Biddicks		T: 020 3178 6378
Katie Tzouliadis / Sophie McNulty

Notes to Editor:

Frontier IP Group Plc ("Frontier IP") specialises in the commercialisation of IP.  It establishes partnerships with individual universities and research institutions to assist with their spin-out and licensing activities and helps to maximise the commercial value of technologies emerging from their research programmes.  It also establishes funds to support the commercialisation of IP.

Narec Capital Limited ("Narec Capital") Narec Capital is the UK's renewable energy accelerator. The company is a uniquely positioned financial services company with a primary focus on reducing financial risk and providing capital in order to accelerate the deployment and reduce the cost per megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable energy technologies and projects. Narec Capital achieves this through its four pillars of operation: specialist consultancy, risk mitigation, capital markets, incubation & commercialisation. The company is a joint venture between Narec (The National Renewable Energy Centre) and Ashberg Ltd (a fully regulated financial services entity).  Additional information on Narec Capital may be found at www.nareccapital.com.

National Renewable Energy Centre ("Narec") Established in 2003, Narec is dedicated to advancing the development, demonstration and deployment of offshore renewable energy technologies - offshore renewable wind, wave and tidal energy generation. To date, it has invested over £150 million of UK government, private sector and European Union funding to create a unique portfolio of independent facilities in Blyth, Northumberland, England. Additional information on Narec may be found at www.narec.co.uk.

 

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