Energy Sector Collaboration

RNS Number : 1916K

Frontier IP Group plc

26 July 2013

 



AIM: FIPP

Frontier IP Group Plc

("Frontier IP")

Exciting New Energy Sector Collaboration

Frontier IP, which specialises in the commercialisation of university intellectual property, is pleased to announce that it has signed an innovative renewable energy sector collaboration with Spanish power group IBERDROLA ("Iberdrola") and renewable energy financial services group Narec Capital Limited ("Narec Capital").  The three parties have signed a memorandum of understanding ("the Memorandum") setting out how they will co-operate to provide investment and industrial leadership for promising clean technology companies.

Narec Capital intends to launch its Accelerated Renewable Deployment Portfolio ("ARDP"), with a target fund size of up to £50m that aims to accelerate deployment timeframes and reduce the cost of energy for renewable projects.  The Memorandum sets out how Iberdrola will work alongside the ARDP as both a co-investment and industrial partner. Fundraising for the ARDP is underway and both parties are already engaged in assessing and refining a joint deal pipeline.

Iberdrola, Spain's leading energy group and one of the world's top power companies with a world leading position in renewable energy, invests in innovative energy technologies and businesses through its corporate venture capital program, PERSEO.

Narec Capital provides specialist financial advice to companies and projects within the renewable energy sector. Frontier IP, which is quoted on AIM, specialises in the commercialisation of university intellectual property and has an agreement in place with Narec Capital to provide fund management and administration services to the ARDP.

This collaboration brings together financial and industry expertise which will be combined to support investee companies in the energy sector in the development and deployment of their technologies.

Jerry Biggs, Chief Executive, Narec Capital said,

"There is not only an acute equity gap being experienced by technology companies within this sector but also an obvious adoption gap by the industrial partners who are able to take the technologies through to full operational deployment.  The collaboration between our new ARDP fund and Iberdrola Perseo will help to ensure that technologies are selected that have direct application for industry.  By applying Narec Capital's rigorous due diligence and commercialisation process alongside Iberdrola's industrial pull through capability, we can help to mitigate risk of failure, address the funding and adoption gap and increase investment returns."

Agustín Delgado, Director of Innovation, Environment and Quality, Iberdrola said,

"This new partnership will bring us the opportunity to collaborate with two organisations that are a reference in technology development for the renewable sector in the UK.  For Iberdrola this is an excellent tool to continue supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem that is key for addressing the future challenges of the energy sector."

Neil Crabb, Chief Executive, Frontier IP said,

"This is an exciting partnership and brings together a range of expertise to focus on finding and investing in companies with new technologies in the energy sector.  In particular we are interested in renewable electrical energy generation technologies as well as technologies that reduce the environmental impact of existing generation systems.  Through our knowledge of the renewable energy sector and experience in raising and managing funds, we hope to play an important part in the success of this new collaboration."

 Enquiries

Frontier IP Group Plc T: 0131 220 9491 Neil Crabb, Chief Executive Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) T: 020 7894 7000 Mark Percy / Julian Erleigh, Corporate Finance David Banks / Paul Jewell, Corporate Broking Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited (Joint Broker) T: 020 7469 0935 Jon Levinson / Lucy Williams Biddicks T: 020 3178 6378 Katie Tzouliadis

Notes to Editor:

Narec Capital is the UK's renewable energy accelerator. The company is a uniquely positioned financial services company with a primary focus on reducing financial risk and providing capital in order to accelerate the deployment and reduce the cost per megawatt hour of renewable energy technologies and projects. www.nareccapital.com 

PERSEO is IBERDROLA's corporate venture capital program to invest in the technologies that will help shaping the future of energy. Since its creation in 2008, more than €25M have already been invested through this program in start-up companies around the globe that develop technologies and new businesses in the energy sector.

Frontier IP specialises in the commercialisation of Intellectual Property. It establishes partnerships with individual universities and research institutions to assist with their spin-out and licensing activities and helps to maximise the commercial value of technologies emerging from their research programmes. www.frontierip.co.uk 

 

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