Sale of shares in Exscientia

RNS Number : 5184W

Frontier IP Group plc

18 August 2022

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 ("MAR"). With the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

RNS

AIM: FIPP

18 August 2022

Frontier IP Group plc

("Frontier IP" or the "Group")

Sale of shares in Exscientia

Frontier IP (AIM: FIPP), a specialist in commercialising intellectual property, announces that further to the announcement released by the Group on 14 February 2022, the Group has sold a further 391,200 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") of portfolio company Exscientia plc ("Exscientia") (Nasdaq: EXAI) for net proceeds of approximately $4.68 million (approximately £3.88 million) at an average price of $11.97 per ADS (the "Exscientia Share Sales"). The Exscientia Share Sales took place between 17 June 2022 and 16 August 2022.

The book value as at 31 December 2021, being the last published balance sheet of the Group , of the ADSs sold was £5.73 million resulting in a total realised loss of £1.85 million. The £1.85 million loss comprises a loss of £2.16 million in the financial year to 30 June 2022 and a gain of £0.31 million in the financial year to 30 June 2023.

Following the Exscientia Share Sales, Frontier IP is interested in 782,400 shares in Exscientia. The Directors of Frontier IP intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of ADSs in Exscientia for general working capital purposes and to provide further support to the Group's existing portfolio companies.

In total, the Group has sold a total of 782,400 Exscientia ADSs since 10 January 2022 for net proceeds of approximately £9.96 million generating an estimated realised gain for Frontier IP of £2.79 million in the financial year to 30 June 2022 and £0.31 million in the financial year to 30 June 2023. The original cost for these shares was less than £2,000.

Neil Crabb, Chief Executive of Frontier IP, commented : "Exscientia has been leading the way in the application of artificial intelligence to drug discovery since its formation in 2012, and we retain half of our original holding even after the substantial realisations to date. These share sales place Frontier IP in a strong financial position to cope with what we anticipate will remain a tough economic environment. We look forward to continuing to develop the next generation of companies that will help in addressing the major challenges that we face around climate, food, water, energy, health and beyond."

ENQUIRIES

Frontier IP Group Plc Neil Crabb, Chief Executive Andrew Johnson, Communications & Investor Relations Company website: www.frontierip.co.uk	T: 020 3968 7815 [e-mail] M: 07464 546 025 [e-mail]
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser) Nick Athanas / George Payne	T: 0203 328 5656
Singer Capital Markets (Broker) Sandy Fraser / Harry Gooden / George Tzimas	T: 0207 496 3000

ABOUT FRONTIER IP

Frontier IP unites science and commerce by identifying strong intellectual property and accelerating its development through a range of commercialisation services. A critical part of the Group's work is involving relevant industry partners at an early stage of development to ensure technology meets real world demands and needs.

The Group looks to build and grow a portfolio of equity stakes and licence income by taking an active involvement in spin-out companies, including support for fund raising and collaboration with relevant industry partners at an early stage of development.

ABOUT EXSCIENTIA

Exscientia uses artificial intelligence ("AI") to modernise the way new medicines are discovered and developed, aiming to deliver medicines faster than industry standards. Exscientia has built a complete end-to-end solution of AI and experimental technologies for target identification, drug candidate design, translational models and patient selection. ADSs of Exscientia trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Each ADS represents one ordinary share in Exscientia. Exscientia announced its annual results to 31 December 2021 on 23 March 2022. These showed that based on audited financials for the year ended 31 December 2021, Exscientia generated revenue of £27.3 million and a loss before taxation of £56.2 million.

 

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