SGM.L Regulatory News (SGM)

23 Mar 2005 10:48

Sigma Technology Group PLC23 March 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 23 March 2005 SIGMA TECHNOLOGY GROUP PLC IP2IPO takes equity stake to assist development of Scottish university tie-ups Sigma Technology Group plc ("Sigma" or the "Group")(AIM:SGM), the technologyventure capital and advisory specialist, is pleased to announce that IP2IPOGroup plc ("IP2IPO") has subscribed for 1,804,675 new ordinary shares of 1p each(the "New Shares") equivalent to 5 per cent. of the existing issued ordinaryshare capital of Sigma at a price of 20 pence per share (the "Investment"). Thetotal cash consideration for this Investment is £360,935. As part of the Investment IP2IPO will support Sigma on an exclusive basis in thedevelopment of strategic relationships with Scottish universities. It will alsoinclude access on a confidential basis to information on the structures andterms which embody the existing IP2IPO relationships. This support willinclude, amongst other things, access to senior IP2IPO executives, contacts withScottish universities and structuring of these relationships, as well asmarketing support. This will build on Sigma's established presence in the Scottish market. Sigma'sbusiness in Scotland is run from its Edinburgh office, currently withinvestments in 10 Scottish companies. Both of Sigma's third party funds undermanagement, which total £23 million, have Scottish-based investors, whichinclude Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and ScottishEnterprise Fife. Sigma also has partnership status with the ScottishCo-investment Fund. In addition to the Investment, Sigma has granted IP2IPO an option to subscribefor an additional 5,414,030 new ordinary shares at a price of 40 pence pershare. Exercise of this option would result in IP2IPO owning an additional 15per cent. of the existing issued equity share capital of Sigma for a cashconsideration of £2,165,612. The option can be exercised until 30th June 2006,the initial period of the collaboration. The exercise of the option is subject to Sigma obtaining the necessaryshareholder consents and the Financial Services Authority granting consent forIP2IPO to own a stake in excess of 10% in Sigma. The Investment is subject only to admission of the New Shares to trading on theAlternative Investment Market ("AIM"). Application has been made to AIM for theadmission of the New Shares which is expected to become effective on 1 April2005. The New Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existingordinary share capital of Sigma. Commenting on today's announcement, Neil Crabb, Joint Managing Director of Sigmasaid: "We are delighted to be able to announce this agreement with IP2IPO whichwill strengthen our ability to develop partnerships with Scottish Universities,some of which rank amongst the best in the UK for technological development. Weare already successful in the Scottish market and this provides us with theopportunity to further that success. " David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer of IP2IPO commented: "This investmentgives IP2IPO the opportunity to expand our model into Scotland. Scottishuniversities contain some of the leading science in the UK and, together withSigma, we can offer them a compelling package of a committed local team andexpertise in university IP commercialisation" For more information please contact: Sigma TechnologyNeil Crabb, Joint Managing Director 0207 653 3200 Buchanan CommunicationsDiane Stewart, Isabel Podda, Charlie Howard 0207 466 5000 IP2IPODavid Norwood 0207 067 1651 Notes to Editors About Sigma Technology Sigma Technology is a venture capital and advisory company with offices inEdinburgh and London. Its venture capital investments are principally in thetechnology sector. Sigma Technology Management Limited was founded in 1996 byGraham Barnet and Neil Crabb. Sigma currently has two funds under management,the Sigma Technology Venture Fund (the "Venture Fund") and the Sigma InnovationFund (East of Scotland) (the "Innovation Fund"). The Group takes a hands-onapproach to its investee companies and, in addition to board representation,aims to provide business and corporate development advice, resulting in thecommercialisation of the technology. The Venture Fund The Venture Fund, which has funds of £17 million under management, invests inearly and development-stage high growth UK companies. It invests between£300,000 and £2.5 million per investment and would normally expect the investeecompany to be profitable within 2 years. Sigma invested £2 million in theVenture Fund, alongside limited partners, Bank of Scotland and Scottish WidowsInvestment Partnership. The Venture Fund currently holds investments in 11companies, 5 of these are based in Scotland. The Innovation Fund The Innovation Fund, which has funds of £6 million under management, providesseed capital to companies located in the East of Scotland. The fund investsbetween £20,000 and £300,000 per investment and currently holds investments in 6companies. Limited Partners in addition to Sigma, include Bank of Scotland, theEuropean Regional Development Fund and Scottish Enterprise Fife. Co-investment Fund The Scottish Enterprise Co-Investment Fund has £45 million available to provideearly stage growth funding for Scottish companies. Sigma's partnership statusmeans that Sigma has access to equal matched funding when making investments upto £500,000 in Scotland. Sigma also receives a deal fee for each investmentcompleted. For more information on Sigma Technology please visit www.sigmatech.co.uk About IP2IPO IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises incommercialising university technology. The Company was founded in 2001 andlisted on AIM in October 2003. For more information on IP2IPO please visit www.ip2ipo.com - ENDS - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange