Portfolio co Retroscreen announces ?33.6m funding

RNS Number : 2070P

IP Group PLC

14 August 2014

 

FOR RELEASE ON

14 August 2014

IP Group plc - Portfolio company Retroscreen announces £33.6m funding round

 

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), the developer of intellectual property based businesses, is pleased to note that portfolio company Retroscreen Virology Group plc ("Retroscreen" or "the Company") has today announced it has raised, subject to certain conditions, £33.6m at 260 pence per share through a placing of shares with both existing and new institutional shareholders.

The net proceeds of the placing are expected to be approximately £32.8m and will be principally used by the Company to accelerate its biomarker discovery programme in flu and asthma, refine the asthma model for product validation use, initiate COPD model development as the second airways disease opportunity and broaden the Company's challenge agent repertoire.

IP Group has agreed to subscribe for 1,538,462 placing shares, representing approximately £4.0 million. Following the placing, IP Group will hold 11,853,869 ordinary shares in the Company, representing 17.5% of the enlarged issued share capital, while IP Venture Fund will hold a 6.1% stake.

Retroscreen also announced that, in line with its expanded vision for the business, it will be changing its name to hVIVO plc which is currently the Company's proprietary name for its technology platform. The name change is expected to be implemented in Q4 2014.

For more information, please contact:

IP Group plc	www.ipgroupplc.com
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer	[phone]
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications	[phone] / [phone] [e-mail]
FTI Consulting
John Dineen	[phone]

Notes for editors

About IP Group

IP Group is a leading UK intellectual property commercialisation company, developing technology innovations primarily from its research intensive partner universities. The Group offers more than traditional venture capital, providing its companies with access to business building expertise, networks, recruitment and business support.

IP Group's portfolio comprises holdings in around 90 early stage to mature businesses across the Healthcare, Biotech, Cleantech and Technology sectors. These businesses include Oxford Nanopore Technologies, the DNA sequencing development company, Revolymer, best known for its removable chewing gum and Xeros, which has received many accolades for its revolutionary clothes washing techniques with a much reduced requirement for water.

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

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