New-Spin Out Company

IP2IPO Group PLC 05 August 2005 For immediate release 5 August 2005 IP2IPO acquires stake in project optimisation software spin-out from the University of Southampton IP2IPO Group plc (AIM: IPO) ('IP2IPO') is pleased to announce that it has invested £350,000 for a stake of 33% in ACSIAN Limited ('ACSIAN'), a spin-out company from the University of Southampton. The investment is part of a seed capital round of £400,000. Prof. James Scanlan of the Computational Engineering and Design Centre, and Ian Poccachard of Rolls-Royce have come together to form ACSIAN, a company that is developing software for the optimal planning and execution of complex projects where budget overruns are frequent and widely publicised. ACSIAN will help reduce the cost of large projects and increase their chances of successful deployment through optimisation of the project structure and the related information flows. Commenting on the launch of ACSIAN, Mr Poccachard, co-founder, said: 'Our product, Plexus-Manager, takes a novel and intelligent approach to modelling and optimising projects. It will help our customers realise a better planning culture in their organisations and derive better execution strategies for their projects. We are delighted to have the funding, support and guidance that we need to bring this exciting product to market in the near future.' For more information contact: IP2IPO 020 7489 5200 David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer ACSIAN, University of Southampton 02380 592369 Prof. J. Scanlan Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000 Mary-Jane Johnson Notes for editors IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises in commercialising university technology. The Company was founded in 2001 and listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange plc in October 2003. IP2IPO's first partnership was with the University of Oxford. In return for an investment of £20 million, IP2IPO has acquired 50 per cent of the University of Oxford's equity in spin-out companies and technology licenses based on intellectual property created at the Chemistry Department until 2015. In November 2003, IP2IPO created a £5 million seed capital fund for investing in spin-out companies across the University of Oxford, not just those originating within the Chemistry Department. In March 2002, IP2IPO entered into a second long-term partnership with the University of Southampton. Under the terms of this partnership, IP2IPO is committed to working with the University of Southampton in the identification and facilitation of spin-out companies from across the University of Southampton and to investing £5 million in early-stage University of Southampton spin-out companies over a four year period in return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPO also received a 20 per cent stake in Southampton Asset Management Limited, a company that has been formed to hold the University's equity stakes in its spin-out companies. The partnership has a term of at least 25 years. IP2IPO entered into its third long-term partnership in May 2003 with King's College London. IP2IPO will work with King's College London to help identify and progress commercialisation opportunities as well as invest £5 million in seed capital in spin-out companies from King's College London over a five year period in return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPO will receive 20 per cent of King's College London's equity in spin-out companies and technology licenses. The partnership has a term of 25 years. In October 2003, IP2IPO announced a fourth partnership with the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products ('CNAP'), based at the University of York. CNAP is a flagship research centre that specialises in plant and microbial gene discovery. Under the terms of the partnership a new company, Amaethon Limited, has been created which has the right to commercialise CNAP's IP for 25 years. IP2IPO has invested £1.15m in Amaethon Limited in return for a 40% equity stake in Amaethon Limited (the remaining equity being owned by the University of York) and will also invest in the spin-out companies based on CNAP's IP which Amaethon Limited creates. In June 2004, IP2IPO acquired Top Technology Ventures Limited, an investment adviser to early stage technology funds. This combines IP2IPO's expertise in the creation of new ventures based on world leading university IP with Top Technology's focus on making early stage venture capital investments. In January 2005, IP2IPO acquired Techtran, a company set up in 2002 to commercialise university intellectual property under a long-term technology commercialisation contract with the University of Leeds. Under the terms of the contract Techtran receives a significant (30%) interest in spin-out companies created and technology licences negotiated, in return for the provision of technology transfer services to the University. In May 2005, IP2IPO announced the launch of LifeUK, a new subsidiary company. LifeUK will in-license life science intellectual property created by medical researchers at universities with which IP2IPO already has partnerships, other universities in the UK and similar academic and charitable research institutions. LifeUK's objective is to further develop the intellectual property which it in-licenses with a view to creating substantial value either by subsequently licensing these development programmes to the pharmaceutical industry or via the creation of new ventures. To date, 4 spin-out companies from the IP2IPO portfolio have listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange plc: Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc, Synairgen plc, VASTox plc and Proximagen Neuroscience plc. For more information please visit www.ip2ipo.com The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship. The University has around 20,000 students and nearly 5,000 staff. Its annual turnover is in the region of £270 million. The Centre for Enterprise and Innovation (CEI) is the focus of entrepreneurial activity within the University of Southampton. Formed in September 2000, the office encourages and supports enterprise activity across the whole university including enterprise education for students and businesses, consultancy for industry and the commercialisation of university intellectual property through the creation of start-up companies and licensing. Since 2000, the CEI has encouraged the start-up of over 25 student and arts-based businesses, supported consultancy transactions across the university and helped spin out 15 companies, two of which floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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