University spin-outs help IP Group grow
IP GROUP, the firm that helps universities to commercialise intellectual property, said that its portfolio companies had made significant progress including a Yorkshire university spin-out that has sold its software to luxury car maker Bentley.
The group has stakes in a portfolio of 65 companies which include quoted Yorkshire companies Avacta and Tracsis as well as University of Leeds spin-out Xeros, which is developing a washing machine product, and Tissue Regenix, which is developing tissue-repair technology.
IP Group said that its investment portfolio was valued at £97.1m at June 30, around the same level as six months earlier but down from £148.4m a year earlier when it had 74 companies in its portfolio.
Other investments it holds in the region include Getech and Syntopix.
The group had net assets of £169.5m at the end of June with cash deposits of £30.6m and it said that its companies had successfully raised more than £70m of capital in the first half of the year
Alan Aubrey, chief executive of IP Group, said: “The group’s portfolio of intellectual property based companies has continued to make good progress during the first half of 2009. While the financing environment has remained challenging, a number of portfolio companies have completed significant financings from a range of sources, including two significant placings on AIM, and a number of private fund raisings. Portfolio company financings during the period spanned the full range of investment stages and sectors within the portfolio and included both new and existing investors.
“Our maturing portfolio of companies continues to attract investment from and collaborate with industry partners, and a number of companies are acting as
consolidators of their specialist sectors. The group continues to manage its cash resources prudently and maintain its conservative treasury policies and has a
promising pipeline of spin-out opportunities from its partner research institutions.”
The group has sold its 24% stake in Luto Research a spin-out company from the University of Leeds which specialises in developing, enhancing and testing patient communications to Mawdsley Brooks, an international pharmaceutical logistics and support services business.
Meanwhile another University of Leeds spin-out, Icona, has sold its software that allows companies to visualise manufacturing variation during the digital product development process to Bentley Motors.
Another of its investments is in Encos, a spin-out company using technology from the Universities of Leeds and Nottingham, aims to replace concrete as a structural material in all applications with fully sustainable construction products made from 100% recycled and industrial waste materials.
