Holding(s) in Company

31 July 2009
For immediate release

                               IQE plc
                      ("IQE" or the "Company")

                        Holding(s) in Company




+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARESi                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                  |                |
|--------------------------------------------------+----------------|
| 1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying      |                |
| issuer                                           |        IQE Plc |
| of existing shares to which voting rights are    |                |
| attached: ii                                     |                |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or |
| boxes):                                                           |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| An acquisition or disposal of voting rights                | Yes  |
|------------------------------------------------------------+------|
| An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial         |      |
| instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares  |  No  |
| already issued to which voting rights are attached         |      |
|------------------------------------------------------------+------|
| An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar     |  No  |
| economic effect to qualifying financial instruments        |      |
|------------------------------------------------------------+------|
| An event changing the breakdown of voting rights           |  No  |
|------------------------------------------------------------+------|
| Other (please          | Changes to disclosure             |  No  |
| specify):              | requirements                      |      |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3. Full name of person(s) subject to |                            |
| the                                  | Barclays PLC               |
| notification obligation: iii         |                            |
|--------------------------------------+----------------------------|
| 4. Full name of shareholder(s)       | See below                  |
|  (if different from 3.):iv           |                            |
|--------------------------------------+----------------------------|
| 5. Date of the transaction and date  |                            |
| on                                   | 28th July 2009             |
| which the threshold is crossed or    |                            |
| reached: v                           |                            |
|--------------------------------------+----------------------------|
| 6. Date on which issuer notified:    | 29th July 2009             |
|--------------------------------------+----------------------------|
| 7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed  |                            |
| or                                   | 5% to below notifiable %   |
| reached: vi, vii                     |                            |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|8. Notified details:                                                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|A: Voting rights attached to shares viii, ix                                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Class/type of |Situation previous            |Resulting situation after the triggering transaction            |
|shares        |to the triggering             |                                                                |
|if possible   |transaction                   |                                                                |
|using         |------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------|
|the ISIN CODE |Number          |Number       |Number      |Number of voting         |% of  voting rights x    |
|              |of              |of           |of shares   |rights                   |                         |
|              |Shares          |Voting       |------------+-------------------------+-------------------------|
|              |                |Rights       |Direct      |Direct xi   |Indirect xii|Direct      |Indirect    |
|--------------+----------------+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------|
|GB0009619924  |21,789,638      |21,789,638   |Not         |Not         |Not         |Not         |Not         |
|              |                |             |reportable  |reportable  |reportable  |reportable  |reportable  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                              |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|B: Qualifying Financial Instruments                                                                           |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Resulting situation after the triggering transaction                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Type of financial    |Expiration       |Exercise/                |Number of voting           |% of voting     |
|instrument           |date xiii        |Conversion Period xiv    |rights that may be         |rights          |
|                     |                 |                         |acquired if the            |                |
|                     |                 |                         |instrument is              |                |
|                     |                 |                         |exercised/ converted.      |                |
|---------------------+-----------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+----------------|
|                     |                 |                         |                           |                |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                              |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments xv, xvi             |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Resulting situation after the triggering transaction                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Type of        |Exercise price |Expiration  |Exercise/    |Number of voting rights       |% of voting rights  |
|financial      |               |date xvii   |Conversion   |instrument refers to          |xix, xx             |
|instrument     |               |            |period xviii |                              |                    |
|---------------+---------------+------------+-------------+------------------------------+--------------------|
|               |               |            |             |                              |Nominal   |Delta    |
|               |               |            |             |                              |----------+---------|
|               |               |            |             |                              |          |         |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                              |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Total (A+B+C)                                                                                                 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Number of voting rights                             |Percentage of voting rights                              |
|----------------------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
|Not reportable                                      |Not reportable                                           |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+



+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting      |
| rights and/or the                                                 |
| financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable: xxi    |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Proxy Voting:                                                     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10. Name of the proxy holder:                             |       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-------|
| 11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease       |       |
| to hold:                                                  |       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-------|
| 12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold         |       |
| voting rights:                                            |       |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+




Contacts:

IQE plc ([phone])
Chris Meadows

Noble & Company Limited (+ 44 20 7763 2200)
John Llewellyn-Lloyd
Sam Reynolds

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