RE: And we're off!30 Sep 2021 09:04
P Group announces that it has realised approximately GBP84m of proceeds* through the partial sale of its holding in Oxford Nanopore. Consistent with the Group's Capital Allocation Policy, the Board is allocating GBP15m of this realisation towards buybacks of its own shares, with the balance to be invested into opportunities within the Group's existing business. Including the GBP20m announced earlier this year, none of which has been utilised to date, a total of GBP35m is now reserved for buybacks. The buyback programme remains subject to various factors including our shareholder authorities to only buy back shares at a discount to Hard NAV per share. Decisions to repurchase shares will always be undertaken in conjunction with considering other potential investment opportunities for the benefit of stakeholders. The Group will update shareholders on the utilisation of this capital via the relevant regulatory announcements.
Following the sale, IP Group holds 82,062,144 shares (or 10.3% of Oxford Nanopore) which is valued at GBP 348.8 million based on the GBP4.25 Offer Price of Oxford Nanopore. This represents a realised and unrealised fair value gain to IP Group of approximately GBP74m*.