PPG.L Regulatory News (PPG)

7 Mar 2007 08:05

Ipso Ventures PLC07 March 2007 IPSO Ventures Plc Placing and Admission to AIM IPSO Ventures Plc ("IPSO" or the "Company"), the IP commercialisationspecialist, today announces the admission of its ordinary shares ("OrdinaryShares") to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc ("AIM") and thecommencement of unconditional dealings ("Admission"). The Ordinary Shares willtrade on AIM under the ticker 'IPS'. Admission follows the Company's successful placing and subscription of 5,294,114Ordinary Shares with institutional and private investors at 85 pence (the"Placing Price") per Ordinary Share to raise £4.5 million (gross). At Admission,the Company has 12,388,227 Ordinary Shares in issue giving the Company a marketcapitalisation, based on the Placing Price, of approximately £10.53 million. Ambrian Partners Limited is nominated adviser and broker to IPSO. IPSO has been set up to commercialise the IP of universities and other researchinstitutes through the establishment of spin-out companies and/or licensingagreements. The Company intends to capitalise on the high quality research andIP that is generated by universities and other research institutes, particularlyin the areas of life sciences, environmental sciences and technology. IPSO has recently signed a long term arrangement with Loughborough Universityfor the commercialisation of all future IP generated from research carried outby the University. Loughborough University has an established reputation forexcellence in research. Simon Hunt, Executive Chairman of IPSO, said: "We are very pleased with theresponse that we have received from institutional investors. The completion ofthe framework agreement with Loughborough University marks a significant stagein IPSO's development. It is the first of a number of similar agreements whichwe hope to secure to build IPSO into a significant player in the IPcommercialisation sector. The Board is confident that, using the capital raisedand its strong university relationships, IPSO will be able to generatesignificant value for its shareholders through intellectual property generatedby Loughborough and other UK academic institutions. We are looking forward tothis challenge." For further information, please contact: IPSO Ventures plc Tel: 020 7812 6042Simon Hunt, Executive ChairmanNick Rodgers, Chief Executive Officer Ambrian Partners Limited Tel: 020 7776 6413Richard WeltonTim Goodman Rawlings Financial PR Limited Tel: 01756 770 376John RawlingsCatriona Valentine NOTES TO EDITORS About IPSO IPSO has been set up to commercialise the IP of universities and other researchinstitutes through the establishment of spin-out companies and/or licensingagreements. The Company intends to capitalise on the high quality research andIP that is generated by UK universities and other research institutes,particularly in the areas of life sciences, environmental sciences andtechnology. IPSO's aim is to enter into up to eight framework agreements over the next threeyears each of which is anticipated to give the Company the right of firstrefusal to commercialise all IP and the first right of access to invest in theresulting spin-outs. IPSO differentiates itself from its competitors through: * an accomplished senior management team which has experience across a range of complementary disciplines in the life sciences, environmental sciences and technology; * a focus on universities and other research institutions with more applied research and development where commercialisation opportunities may be closer to market; * an in-house capability to identify, recruit and build experienced management teams; and * significant corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions expertise. The Loughborough Agreement IPSO has recently entered into a long term framework agreement with LoughboroughUniversity for the commercialisation of all future IP generated from theUniversity's research capability. Loughborough University has an establishedreputation for excellence in research. Loughborough has more than 12,000 full-time students and 3,000 staff with one ofthe biggest campuses in the country, approximately 165 hectares of land. In thefirst National Student Survey in 2005, measuring the level of students'satisfaction with their university, Loughborough claimed joint second place.Loughborough was ranked 6th in the Times Top Universities Guide published inJune 2006. In the year ended 31 July 2005, Loughborough had an income of £153million and was awarded a total of £39.7 million in research grants andcontracts. Loughborough has a breadth of partnerships with companies such asFord, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and JCB. In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (''RAE''), a quality ratings system forresearch across all university disciplines, nine subject areas at Loughboroughwere highly rated as 5 and above for international excellence, with three areasgaining the highest attainable 5* rating. Current spin-out portfolio: Intelligent Wound Care Limited A spin-out from Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine which isdeveloping solutions for monitoring the metabolic status of wounds. Therakind Limited A spin-out from The School of Pharmacy, University of London which is involvedin the formulation of medicines for children. WildKey Limited A spin-out from Oxford Brookes University which is developing educationalsoftware for handheld devices. The management team of IPSO includes: Simon Hunt, Executive Chairman Age 56, having trained and practiced as a corporate lawyer, includingintellectual property law (Macfarlanes and Gouldens), Simon moved into venturecapital with Gartmore specialising mainly in technology, particularly in the US.Simon subsequently ran his own venture capital and M&A advisory business beforegaining operational experience through being CEO of a technology based publiccompany Stordata Solutions plc. He has had significant involvement in a varietyof mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and fundraisings and hasworked with companies from start up to mature stage, both public and private. Nick Rodgers, Chief Executive Officer Age 48, Nick was, until December 2003, Head of Life Sciences and Joint Head ofCorporate Finance at Evolution Securities (formerly Beeson Gregory). In thatrole Nick has advised on a large number of initial public offerings,fundraisings, acquisitions, mergers, disposals and takeovers dealing with bothprivate and public companies. Whilst at Beeson Gregory he was heavily involvedin the establishment of IP Group plc's first two partnerships and was a memberof the steering committee for the Oxford partnership and the investmentcommittee for the Southampton partnership. Nick has been involved in helpingcompanies at most stages of their development as well as sitting on boards ofboth public and private companies. Dr. Simon Haworth, Executive Director Age 45, Simon will be responsible for building management teams for IPSOspin-out companies. This role will be part time as he is the head ofinternational recruiter BSG Team Ventures and founder of the UK based TeamVentures Limited. BSG Team Ventures builds teams for companies in the innovationeconomy in the UK and USA. It is established as an international recruitmentengine primarily for sourcing chief executive officers, chairmen, non-executivedirectors and board level executives. Simon's focus is on technology and biotechfor clients such as Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd, Warburg Pincus InternationalLLC, Xaar plc, Cambridge Antibody Technology (now part of the AstraZeneca groupof companies), Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Vectura Group plc, t+Medical Ltd,Oxford BioSignals Ltd, Novocellus Ltd and Karus Therapeutics Ltd. Michael Baines, Non-Executive Director Age 54, Michael has worked in the financial services industry for 25 years. From1985 to 2000 he was at Robert Fleming & Co, an international asset managementand investment banking group, where he held senior positions in assetmanagement, securities trading and investment banking. Key roles included Headof Risk Management and Deputy Chairman of Robert Fleming Securities. Michael wasalso a main board director of the bank between 1994 and 1998. Michael currentlyacts as a consultant to Atlas Capital Limited, a specialist hedge fund group andsits on the boards of two other financial services companies. He is also anactive seed investor in technology focussed companies. Dr. Peter Knox, Non-Executive Director Age 57, Peter was Managing Director of Metris Therapeutics Limited, a Universityof Cambridge spin-out that specialises in the research and development of medicines thattreat gynaecological or women's health disorders. After graduating from OxfordUniversity, Peter spent over a decade as an academic in the field ofbiochemistry at the University of Birmingham and St Georges Hospital MedicalSchool, London. Peter has held senior management positions in several companiesincluding Group Chief Scientist for Amersham International plc and Head ofDepartment at Glaxo Group Research Ltd. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END