Notification of Interest in Shares

23 June 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                                   | 12th June 2009             |
| which the threshold is crossed or    |                            |
| reached: v                           |                            |
|--------------------------------------+----------------------------|
| 6. Date on which issuer notified:    | 15th June 2009             |
|--------------------------------------+----------------------------|
| 7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed  |                            |
| or                                   | Below notifiable % to 5%   |
| 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 of voting    |% of  voting rights x|
|              |of               |of             |         |rights              |                     |
|              |Shares           |Voting         |---------+--------------------+---------------------|
|              |                 |Rights         |         |Direct |Indirect xii|Direct    |Indirect  |
|              |                 |               |         |xi     |            |          |          |
|--------------+-----------------+---------------+---------+-------+------------+----------+----------|
|  GB0009619924|            1,836|          1,836|         |      0|  21,794,852|      0.00|     5.00%|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                     |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|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  |
|               |                |          |              |0                      |----------+-------|
|               |                |          |              |                       |0         |       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                     |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Total (A+B+C)                                                                                        |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Number of voting rights                              |Percentage of voting rights                    |
|-----------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
|21,794,852                                           |5.00%                                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+



+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting      |
| rights and/or the                                                 |
| financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable: xxi    |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Barclays Stockbrokers Ltd                                         |
| Gerrard Investment Management Ltd                                 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 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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