Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, “Innovations”, the “Company”, the “Group”) announces that it is proposing to conditionally raise £100 million (before expenses) by way of a placing with clawback at 425p per new Ordinary Share (the “Placing”). Innovations believes that there are significant opportunities available to the Group to invest in existing and new portfolio companies across its target investment areas, and to seek to further accelerate its growth and to enhance returns to shareholders.
Highlights
• The Placing Price of 425p represents a premium of approximately 8.0% to the mid-market closing price of the Group’s Ordinary Shares on 3 February 2016
• Of the 23,529,412 new Ordinary Shares (the “Placing Shares”) proposed to be issued under the Placing, 1,176,471 Placing Shares are being made available today, via a clawback arrangement, to existing and new institutional investors
• The net proceeds of the Placing are intended to be used:
• to deploy significant amounts of capital into portfolio companies (“Portfolio Companies”) well known to the Group to build upon recent successes and recreate opportunities to generate significant returns;
• to continue the Group’s support of its portfolio companies by maintaining or increasing its stake in these companies through their future funding requirements;
• to further its research commercialisation and investment activities in new and existing technologies using its extensive network of academics, entrepreneurs, management teams and co-investors;
• to deploy funds in investment opportunities arising from Group’s involvement in the UCL Technology Fund LP;
• to invest in expanding its licensing portfolio with the intention of further growing its licence and royalty income; and
• for general corporate purposes.
The Placing is being conducted by Cenkos Securities and J.P. Morgan Cazenove.
It is expected that Placing Shares representing £90 million of the gross proceeds will be admitted to trading on the AIM market operated by the London Stock Exchange (“AIM”) and that dealing in those Placing Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 23 February 2016 (“Admission”). The issuance of the remaining Placing Shares, representing £10 million of the gross proceeds, is conditional on regulatory approval, and is expected, subject to receipt of such approval, to take place on or before 31 May 2016.
Martin Knight, Chairman of Innovations, said:
“To have raised these sort of sums at a 8.0% premium to the market, is a tremendous endorsement of our strategy and team.
“This new funding will allow us to capitalise fully on the potential of our maturing portfolio by scaling up our investment in our most promising portfolio companies without dilution, whilst selectively adding new companies to build our pipeline for long-term value creation.
“In the first five months of this financial year we have invested £21.2 million in the portfolio and added five new companies to our investment portfolio, compared to six in the whole of the previous year.
“In recent weeks, we have stepped up our investment rate, committing a further £49.4m in aggregate to the substantial new funding rounds for Inivata and MISSION Therapeutics and the new UCL Technology and Apollo Therapeutics funds.”
Issued for and on behalf of Imperial Innovations by Instinctif Partners.
For more information please contact:
Imperial Innovations Group Plc
020 3053 8834
Russell Cummings, Chief Executive Officer
Jon Davies, Director of Communications
Instinctif Partners
020 7457 2020
Adrian Duffield/Melanie Toyne Sewell
J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Nominated Adviser)
020 7742 4000
Michael Wentworth-Stanley/Alec Pratt
Cenkos Securities
020 7397 8900
Christopher Golden
