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IP Group Plc

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FY2017 Annual Report · IP Group Plc
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Evolving GREAT IDEAS
into WORLD-CHANGING businesses

IP Group plc 
Annual Report and Accounts 
for the year ended 31 December 2017

Registration Number: 04204490 
Stock Code: IPO

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The purpose of IP Group is to evolve  
great ideas into world-changing businesses.

The IP Group team has spent many years developing its approach to identifying attractive intellectual 
property (“IP”), nurturing and building businesses around such IP and then providing capital and 
support along the journey from “cradle to maturity”. We are pioneering in our approach, including the 
concept of forming long-term partnerships with leading research universities, passionate about what 
we do, principled in how we work and committed to delivering results for all of our stakeholders. 

The Group now has operations in the UK, the US and Australasia and, following the combination 
with Touchstone Innovations and capital raise in 2017, benefits from increased scale and critical 
mass, a more diverse portfolio and access to 16.8% of the world’s Top Research. Our portfolio, which 
is currently valued at £1.1bn, comprises holdings in over 150 companies covering a broad range of 
commercial innovations across the life sciences and technology. We have a strong track record of 
success and are proud to have helped create and build some truly exciting businesses based on 
cutting-edge science. 

INVESTMENT CASE

Strength of partnerships 
with leading research 
institutions, giving access 
to potentially disruptive  
IP around the world.

Business-building expertise,
including executive 
search, capital, networks, 
recruitment and business 
support.

‘Patient capital’ approach,
enabling the provision of
funding from ‘cradle to
maturity’ unconstrained by
traditional fixed-life VC 
fund approach.

Strong track record built 
over 15+ years.

Balanced and maturing 
portfolio of exciting 
companies.

International exposure with 
growing businesses in US 
and Australasia.

Combination with 
Touchstone creates clear 
international sector leader.

Critical mass allows access 
to greater pool of capital.

In-house ‘technology 
transfer’ capability to 
identify disruptive IP and 
help commercialise it.

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25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Highlights

Hard NAV
(£m)

Portfolio highlights
 y Net portfolio gains of £94.2m 

(2016: £6.5m)

£1,326.2m
(2016: £706.5m)

 y Fair value of portfolio: £1,130.6m 

1,326.2

(2016: £614.0m) including £352.2m fair 
value of acquired Touchstone portfolio

714.3

706.5

451.3

315.5

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Proceeds from  
sales of equity 
investments
(£m)

£6.6m
(2016: £14.7m)

14.7

 y Capital provided by IP Group to  

portfolio companies and projects: 
£71.2m (2016: £69.7m), and £13.4m 
(2016: £nil) by Parkwalk Advisors.

 y Portfolio cash realisations: £6.6m  

(2016: £14.7m)

 y Total funds raised by portfolio 

companies of £315m (2016: £230m)

 y Istesso commences Phase 2a clinical 

trials for its lead programme in 
Rheumatoid Arthritis and expands its 
R&D collaboration with Janssen

 y Autifony Therapeutics signs €627.5m 

9.7

5.5

2013

2014

0.6
2015

2016

2017

collaboration agreement with  
Boehringer Ingelheim

6.6

 y Diurnal receives positive CHMP opinion 
for Alkindi®, a precursor to market  
launch for its first product in Q2 2018

Financial and operational highlights
 y Net assets £1,508.5m (2016: £768.7m) 

 y Hard NAV £1,326.2m (2016: £706.5m)

 y Return on Hard NAV of £64.1m (2016: negative £7.6m); Return on 
Hard NAV excluding acquisition and restructuring costs £73.2m 
(2016: negative £7.2m)

 y Profit for the year £53.4m (2016: loss £14.8m)

 y Gross cash and deposits £326.3m (2016: £112.3m)

 y Increased scale and critical mass through all-share combination with 

Touchstone, integration progressing well

 y Acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors Ltd, UK’s leading growth EIS fund 

manager focused on university spin-outs

 y Launch of IP Group Australasia; nine new partnerships signed with 

leading universities in Australia and New Zealand

 y £181.0m (net) capital raise completed, including significant new 

shareholders from Australia, China, Singapore and the UK 

Post period end highlights
 y Oxford Nanopore completes £100m financing round in March, 

confirms orders of $23.5m in 2017 and signals 2018 order book to 
more than treble to $75m 

Disclaimer: This Annual Report and Accounts may contain forward-looking statements. These statements 
reflect the Board’s current view, are subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties and could 
change in the future. Factors that could cause or contribute to such changes include, but are not limited 
to, the general economic climate and market conditions, as well as specific factors relating to the financial 
or commercial prospects or performance of individual companies within the Group’s portfolio. Further 
details can be found in the Risk management section on pages 46 to 53.

Throughout this Annual Report and Accounts, the Group’s holdings in portfolio companies reflect the 
undiluted beneficial equity interest excluding debt, unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Strategic Report Business Overview

What’s inside

Business Overview

Highlights 
Q&A with the CEO 
Group at a glance 

Strategic Report

Our business & strategy 
Chairman’s summary 
Market 
Business model 
Our strategy 
Our performance 
Key performance indicators 
Operational review 
Portfolio review 
Financial review 
Risk management 
Our business ethics and  
social responsibility 

Our Governance

Overview 
Board of directors 
Corporate governance statement 
Committee reports 
Directors’ remuneration report  
Report of the audit and  
risk committee 
Other statutory 
Directors’ report 
Statement of directors’  
responsibilities 

Our Financials

Independent auditor’s report 
Group primary statements 
Consolidated statement of  
comprehensive income 
Consolidated statement of  
financial position 
Consolidated statement  
of cash flows 
Consolidated statement of  
changes in equity 
Group notes
Notes to the consolidated  
financial statements 
Company statements 
Company balance sheet 
Statement of changes in equity 
Notes to the company 
financial statements 
Company information 

1
2
4

8
11
14
16

18
20
23
40
46

54

62
64

80

100

105

107

110 

116

117

118

119

120

167
168

169
183

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

1

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comQ&A with the CEO

2017 has been a significant year for IP Group. 
The underlying business has performed well and 
there have also been a number of individually 
important strategic transactions. 
ALAN AUBREY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

2017 has been a significant year for IP Group.  
The underlying business has performed well and there 
have also been a number of individually important 
strategic transactions. The Group completed two 
corporate transactions: the combination with AIM-
listed Touchstone Innovations plc in October and 
the acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors Ltd in January. 
Touchstone Innovations creates, builds and invests in 
technology companies and licensing opportunities 
developed from scientific research from the ‘Golden 
Triangle’, the geographical region broadly bounded 
by London, Cambridge and Oxford and Parkwalk is 
the UK’s leading university spin-out focused EIS fund 
manager. In addition, IP Group completed a placing 
to raise £181.0m of new capital and extended its 
model into Australasia, signing a landmark agreement 
with nine of Australasia’s leading universities: the 
University of Adelaide, Australian National University, 
the University of Melbourne, Monash University, 
UNSW Sydney, the University of Queensland, the 
University of Sydney and the University of Western 
Australia in Australia, and the University of Auckland 
in New Zealand. The Group now has operations in 
three major geographic territories – the UK, US and 
Australasia, a stronger balance sheet and a large and 
diversified portfolio of exciting opportunities.

What are the main benefits of 
the combination with Touchstone 
Innovations?
Our vision is to create an international leader in IP 
commercialisation with an enlarged platform for 
growth and investment. The three most significant 
benefits to the Group of the combination with 
Touchstone are: (1) increased scale and critical mass; 
(2) further diversification of the Group’s portfolio 
in terms of maturity and business sector and (3) 
further access to world-class research, including 
London’s Imperial College and University College 
London. As a result of the transaction, the Group 

now operates the ‘technology transfer operation’ 
known as ‘Imperial Innovations’. It also brings with it a 
number of experienced team members. We continue 
to believe that an ‘industry champion’ will be better 
placed to attract the best university partnerships; 
the best scientific and commercial talent; and a 
broader and deeper pool of investors. By creating 
a stronger, better-resourced company, we can help 
more scientists develop commercial businesses, 
and help prevent the flight of commercially viable 
enterprises that so often has to leave the UK and/
or seek takeover before they have achieved what 
they set out to do. The transaction was declared 
wholly unconditional in October and Touchstone is 
consequently being integrated into the Group.

What is Imperial Innovations?
Imperial Innovations is Imperial College, London’s 
‘Technology Transfer Office’ or ‘TTO’ for short. 
University TTOs are dedicated to identifying 
research which has potential commercial interest 
and to then helping commercialise it. Following 
the Touchstone transaction, Imperial Innovations 
is now a wholly owned operating unit of IP Group 
and effectively gives the Group a direct pipeline to 
the research being carried out at one of the world’s 
leading technical universities until mid-2020. Imperial 
Innovations works with researchers at Imperial 
College London to help develop their novel research 
into new businesses, products or services, supporting 
the process of taking an idea from the lab into the 
market. Imperial Innovations assesses inventions, 
protects intellectual property through patents and 
other appropriate forms of IP protection, provides 
advice on establishing proof of concept and may 
provide development funding or support inventors in 
their applications for funding from other sources. Its 
‘Venture Support Unit’ establishes new businesses, 
finds mentors and management and provides access 
to preferred suppliers, similar in a number of ways to 
IP Group’s existing IP Assist function.

  READ ABOUT OUR BUSINESS MODEL ON PAGES 14 TO 15

2

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Business Overview

recorded a net contribution of £1.6m for the period 
since acquisition, has significant assets under 
management, an experienced team and strong links 
to many of IP Group’s existing university partners. Its 
investment vehicles include the evergreen Parkwalk 
Opportunities Fund, the University of Cambridge 
Enterprise Funds, the University of Oxford Innovation 
Funds and the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds.

What benefits do you expect  
from the recently established 
Australasian operations?
One of the main reasons for selecting Australasia in 
terms of expansion was that it scored very highly in 
meeting our criteria of long-term partnerships with 
leading research institutions alongside access to 
significant pools of local capital with a potentially 
long-term investment horizon. It is still early days in 
the region for us but we now have a team in place, led 
by Dr Mike Molinari, who has been appointed to the 
position of Managing Director. It’s a return to IP Group 
for Dr Molinari who was previously a Director of IP 
Group’s IP Capital business in London. He re-joins 
from Brandon Capital, one of Australia’s leading life 
science investors with >$500M under management, 
where he was an Investment Manager. Alistair 
McCreadie has been appointed Chief Investment 
Officer, Asia Pacific, and Dr Peter Grant, who is IP 
Group plc’s Managing Director for New Business and 
Partnerships, is Chairman of the Australian subsidiary. 
This team will focus on building up the Australian 
and New Zealand operations as IP Group deepens 
its engagement with its nine university partners in 
the region. We have been encouraged by investors’ 
response to the move with new investors including 
Temasek and Telstra both joining IP Group’s share 
register through our fundraising last Summer and 
an AU$100m global co-investment mandate being 
agreed with Hostplus. The team has identified an 
attractive pipeline of opportunities and anticipates 
making initial investments in 2018. 

Integration is often a challenge 
with acquisitions. How have the 
first few months worked out with 
Touchstone?
We have been really encouraged by the level of 
engagement and commitment shown by employees 
in both IP Group and Touchstone Innovations. After 
an initial review last Autumn, it was clear that staff in 
both companies felt strongly that it was important 
to start working together as one team as quickly as 
possible and we therefore focussed on making this 
happen. The integration process was overseen by a 
team comprising individuals from both IP Group and 
Touchstone and is now substantially complete. We 
have simplified and streamlined our organisational 
structure by moving to a two-sector model of Life 
Sciences and Technology and will operate both 
divisions from one central London office. Both the TTO 
and Parkwalk continue to be run as separate entities.

Are there any changes to  
IP Group’s divisional reporting 
following the integration of the 
Touchstone portfolio?
As part of the integration we decided to move 
to a simpler 2-sector model of Life Sciences and 
Technology rather than our previous four sector model 
of Healthcare, Biotech, Technology and Cleantech. 
Going forward, both the Life Sciences and Technology 
sector will be managed as ‘partnerships’, comprising 
a Managing Partner responsible for its overall 
performance with a structure of partners, investment 
directors and managers and analysts specialising 
in particular fields and companies. In Life Sciences, 
the Managing Partner is Dr Sam Williams and in 
Technology, the Managing Partner is Dr Mark Reilly.

  READ ABOUT OUR PORTFOLIO ON PAGES 23 TO 39

How has the Parkwalk acquisition 
helped IP Group’s access to capital?
Founded in 2009, Parkwalk is the largest EIS growth 
fund manager focused on university spin-outs, 
having raised over £175m to date with the majority 
of funds coming from leading private wealth 
platforms and having backed over 80 companies 
across its managed funds since inception. In 2017 
alone, Parkwalk committed over £70m to UK 
university spin-outs investing alongside IP Group, 
Touchstone Innovations, Oxford Sciences Innovation 
and Cambridge Innovation Capital. Parkwalk, which 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

3

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comGroup at a glance
IP Group partners with leading research institutions in countries where leading 
research is produced. The Group has three areas of geographic focus; the UK, the 
US and our recently formed business in Australasia. In total, the Group has access 
to R&D emanating from 32 universities or research institutions around the world 
comprising 18 in the UK, 5 in the US and 9 in Australia/New Zealand. IP Group has 
access to commercialisable intellectual property from universities whose academic 
staff have published 16.8% of the world’s Top Research. The Directors therefore 
believe the Group is the international market leader in the emerging university IP 
commercialisation sector.

UNPARALLELED ACCESS TO GLOBAL RESEARCH HUBS

UK THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE
America THE AMTRAK CORRIDOR
Australasia THE GO9 UNIVERSITIES
   y University of Adelaide
 y Australian National 

Queensland

 y The University of 

University

 y The University of 

 y The University of 

Melbourne

 y Monash University
 y UNSW Sydney

Sydney

 y The University of 
Western Australia
 y The University of 

Auckland

  READ ABOUT OUR PARTNERS IN OUR BUSINESS MODEL  
ON PAGES 14 TO 15

A BALANCED PORTFOLIO WITH A STRONG RECORD OF GROWTH

By fair value*
(£m)

Technology
334.0 

Multiple Sectors 
62.9 

By number of companies*

Multiple Sectors 
3 

Life 
Sciences
704.4 

Technology
82 

Life 
Sciences
73 

IP Group Hard NAV
(£m)

Top 10 holdings by value
(£m)

*  Excludes de minimis & organic holdings

1,326.2

125.4pps

714.3

706.5

127pps

125pps

451.3

94pps

315.5
84pps

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

4

25.8

26.3

26.7

28.4

31.5

38.7

44.5

51.1

55.5

X eros T ec h n olo g y G ro u p ( Q )
C ell M e dica (P)

Diurn al G ro u p ( Q )
A ctu al E x p erie n ce ( Q )
P siO x us T h era p e utics (P)
C eres P o w er H oldin gs ( Q )
Circassia ( Q )

Istesso (P)

O xford N a n o p ore (P)
O xford S cie n ces In n o vatio n (P)

274.1

TOP 10

as at 
31 December
2017

Technology 

Life Sciences 

Multiple Sectors 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Business Overview

AN ENLARGED GLOBAL BUSINESS
IP Group’s vision is to create an international leader in IP commercialisation with  
an enlarged platform for growth and investment. The combination with Touchstone 
provides the Group with critical mass, a better-balanced portfolio across two  
main sectors as well as additional partnerships including Imperial College London 
where the business also operates the ‘technology transfer operation’ known as 
‘Imperial Innovations’.

Life Sciences

Technology

TOTAL

Value of 
companies in 
the portfolio

£704.4m

£334.0m

£1,038.4m1

2017 net 
portfolio gains

£63.2m

£30.5m

£94.2m2

Number of 
portfolio 
companies

Focus

Development

E
G
A
T
S

Early stage

73

82

155

12

7

19

40

21

44

31

84

52

1 Excludes £69.9m related to multi-sector platforms, de minimis and organic portfolio holdings. See page 27 for further details
2 Includes £0.5m gains relating to multi-sector platforms’

5

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comCreate

To build and maintain a pipeline  
of compelling intellectual  
property-based opportunities

6

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

STRATEGIC REPORT

Our business & strategy 

Chairman’s summary 

Market 

Business model 

Our strategy 

Our performance 

Key performance indicators 

Operational review 

Portfolio review 

Financial review 

Risk management 

Our business ethics and  
social responsibility 

8

11

14

16

18

20

23

40

46

54

Stock Code: IPO www.ipgroupplc.com

7

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Chairman’s summary

The Group now has operations in three  
major geographic territories – the UK, US  
and Australasia – a stronger balance sheet  
and a large and diversified portfolio of  
exciting opportunities 
MIKE HUMPHREY CHAIRMAN

I am pleased to report a year of substantial 
progress at IP Group in 2017. The underlying 
business performed well with some notable 
commercial progress within the portfolio while at 
a corporate level, IP Group completed a number 
of individually significant strategic transactions. 
The Group now has operations in three major 
geographic territories – the UK, US and Australasia 
– a stronger balance sheet and a large and 
diversified portfolio of exciting opportunities.

Corporate transactions
2017 was a busy period in terms of corporate 
transactions for the Group. In June, the Group 
formally launched an all-share offer for Touchstone 
Innovations plc, a company which creates, builds 
and invests in technology companies and licensing 
opportunities developed from scientific research 
from the ‘Golden Triangle’, the geographical 
region broadly bounded by London, Cambridge 
and Oxford. The combination gives us critical 
mass, a better-balanced portfolio and additional 
partnerships. The transaction was declared 
wholly unconditional in October and Touchstone’s 
portfolio, people and operations have been 
integrated into the Group.

In May, IP Group announced a £181.0m (net) 
capital raise and welcomed new shareholders from 
Australia, China, Singapore and the UK. The funding 
allows the Group to accelerate growth by investing 
in new and existing portfolio companies, build on 
its pool of valued scientific and commercial talent, 
and attract further investors and co-investment 
partners. It also furthers the transformation 
underway by expanding the Group’s share register 
and by further extending its model into Australasia.

HIGHLIGHTS

Combination with  
Touchstone Innovations

Launch of Australasian operations

Acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors

TIMELINE

JANUARY 2017

Completed the acquisition 
of Parkwalk Advisors Ltd

8

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our business & strategy

In February, we completed the acquisition of Parkwalk 
Advisors Ltd. that was announced in December 
2016. Founded in 2009, Parkwalk is the UK’s leading 
university spin-out focused EIS fund manager. We are 
delighted to have the team on board and Parkwalk 
recorded a net contribution of £1.6m for the period 
since acquisition, while co-investing in six IP Group 
portfolio companies.

Expansion into Australasia
IP Group was also delighted to announce a landmark 
agreement with Australasia’s leading universities 
in 2017, which will see at least A$200m invested 
in finding and developing companies involved 
in disruptive innovation. The commercialisation 
agreements, the first of their type in Australasia, 
were signed with nine universities: the University of 
Adelaide, Australian National University, the University 
of Melbourne, Monash University, UNSW Sydney, the 
University of Queensland, the University of Sydney 
and the University of Western Australia in Australia, 
and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. The 
Group committed to invest at least A$200m over 
a 10-year period to fund investments in spin-out 
companies based on the intellectual property (IP) 
developed by academics at the nine universities, 
generated from research in areas such  
as digital medicine, new medical therapies and 
quantum computing.

Key portfolio events
Turning to the portfolio, I would draw out a few 
highlights. During the year, Diurnal received positive 
CHMP opinion for its Alkindi® product, followed by 
market authorisation in February 2018, paving the 
way for Diurnal to become the first IP Group company 
to launch a new therapeutic in Europe, which is 
anticipated in Q2 2018. Istesso commenced Phase 
2a clinical trials for its lead MBS2320 programme 
in Rheumatoid Arthritis and expanded its R&D 
collaboration with Janssen. Autifony Therapeutics 
Ltd, a Touchstone Innovations company, announced 
it had signed a €627.5m collaboration agreement 
with Boehringer Ingelheim. And finally, once again, 
Oxford Nanopore has shown significant commercial 
progress during the period, with the company 
recently announcing that 2017 order intake had 
increased approximately three-fold to $25.3m, with 
an expectation for a similar level of growth in 2018, 
and a number of product developments, including the 
launch of the GridION x5. 

In addition, our portfolio companies continue 
to attract significant external funding, raising 
approximately £315m of new capital this year. 
Significant fund raisings included AIM-quoted Tissue 
Regenix Group plc (£40m), Actual Experience 
plc (£17.5m) and, among the private companies, 
Ultrahaptics Ltd (£17.9m) and Creavo Medical 
Technologies (£13.4m).

MAY 2017

IPG announced the result of £181m (net) 
 capital raising with new shareholders from  
Australia, China, Singapore and the UK, 
and the launch of IP2IPO Australia with 
commercialisation agreements with nine 
leading Australian and New Zealand  
research universities 

IPG announced an offer 
to acquire Touchstone 
Innovations plc

OCTOBER 2017

Offer for Touchstone 
Innovations goes 
wholly unconditional

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

9

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comChairman’s summary CONTINUED

Summary
The business made substantial progress in 2017, 
leaving IP Group well positioned for 2018 and beyond. 
I would like to welcome all our new colleagues and 
partners to the Group this year and to thank staff, 
academic partners and portfolio companies for 
their commitment and contribution to this positive 
performance. As ever, I would also like to extend 
the Board’s thanks to all our stakeholders for their 
continued support without whom none of this would 
be possible. With a larger and maturing portfolio  
and an expanded pipeline of opportunities around  
the world, we look to the rest of the year with 
continued confidence.

MIKE HUMPHREY 
CHAIRMAN

Financial performance
In terms of financial performance, the Group 
continues to build on its strong track record. In 2017, 
IP Group’s portfolio delivered a solid performance 
with net assets excluding goodwill and intangibles 
(“Hard NAV”) totalling £1,326.2m (2016: £706.5m) 
with the fair value of the portfolio increasing to 
£1,130.6m (2016: £614.0m) and resulting in a reported 
profit of £53.4m (2016: £14.8m loss). The Group 
ended the year with gross cash and deposits of 
£326.3m (2016: £112.3m). I must stress however that 
our business model remains long term in nature and 
while our objective is to generate long term value 
for stakeholders, portfolio company valuations and 
therefore our results can and do fluctuate from year 
to year.

Changes to the Board
At Board level, there have been two changes this year. 
In October, we were delighted to welcome Professor 
David Begg as a non-executive director following the 
acquisition of Touchstone Innovations plc, where he 
was a non-executive director. Professor Begg joined 
Touchstone Innovations plc from Imperial College 
London, where he was Professor of Economics and 
Principal of the Business School from 2003 until 2012. 
He also acted as Vice Provost for Research for the 
College. During his earlier career, he held a number of 
distinguished advisory and academic appointments, 
including Professor of Economics at Birkbeck College, 
Visiting Fellow at the Reserve Bank of Australia, 
and Visiting Professor at M.I.T and at INSEAD, and 
Economic Policy Advisor in the Bank of England.

Doug Liversidge, CBE, retired from his position as 
a non-executive director of the Company at the 
end of 2017. Mr Liversidge served on the Board in a 
non-executive capacity since March 2014 following 
IP Group’s acquisition of Fusion IP plc, where he was 
Chairman. He was also the Group’s Senior Independent 
Director, a role that Professor Begg agreed to take on 
from the beginning of 2018. Mr Liversidge made an 
important contribution to the Group’s growth and I 
would like to thank him for his commitment and wise 
counsel over the past four years.

10

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our business & strategy

Market

The purpose of IP Group is to evolve great ideas  
into world-changing businesses.

IP Group is a leading intellectual property 
commercialisation company which focuses on 
evolving great ideas, mainly from its partner 
universities, into world-changing businesses. 
The Group has pioneered a unique approach to 
developing these ideas and the resulting businesses 
by providing access to business building expertise, 
capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised 
subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), 
networks, recruitment and business support.

The Directors consider that the Group is operating 
and competing in two major areas. Firstly, the Group 
competes for access to great ideas with significant 
commercial potential. The Group primarily sources 
these ideas from a network of world-leading academic 
research institutions, frequently those with which it 
has a long-term partnership arrangement. Secondly, 
the Group competes for capital to develop these great 
ideas into viable businesses against other investment 
opportunities. While the market for capital is very 
broad and deep, the Group’s companies are typically 
seeking earlier-stage and development risk capital.

Challenges facing the developed 
and developing world today
One of IP Group’s core beliefs is that overcoming 
many of the world’s common problems will require 
multiple scientific solutions. The common challenges 
facing the developed and developing world include 
issues such as ageing population, climate change, 
resource scarcity, energy availability and storage, 
rapid urbanisation, health challenges and increasing 
digitisation. Historically, many of the solutions to these 
global problems have come from fundamental R&D 
carried out in the world’s leading research universities 
and institutions. IP Group believes that this will 
continue to be the case and therefore the Directors 
feel the Group’s work, of helping commercialise 
cutting-edge science, is of such importance.

The search for solutions
IP Group partners with major leading research 
institutions in countries where research is produced. 
The Group has three areas of geographic focus; 
the UK, the US and our recently formed business 
in Australasia. In total, the Group has access to 
R&D emanating from 32 universities or research 
institutions around the world comprising 18 in the UK, 
5 in the US and 9 in Australia/New Zealand. IP Group 
has access to intellectual property from universities 
whose academic staff have published 16.8% of the 
world’s Top Research. The Directors therefore believe 
the Group is the international market leader in the 
emerging university IP commercialisation sector.

The Group’s core business remains the UK, which 
has been further reinforced by the acquisition of 
Touchstone Innovations plc. IP Group does, however, 
continually assess potential opportunities in other 
territories that satisfy its criteria including long-term 
partnerships with leading research institutions and 
good access to both capital and entrepreneurial talent.

Economic backdrop
The overall economic backdrop has a significant 
bearing on the Group’s ability to pursue its strategic 
objectives. In the shorter term, financial market 
volatility and investor risk appetite impacts access to 
capital for the development of spin-out companies, 
which in turn, can affect the likelihood of achieving 
exits and can influence the periodic valuations of 
holdings in portfolio companies. Over the longer-term, 
Government spending on fundamental R&D as well as 
policy support towards the commercialisation of IP are 
key areas affecting the Group’s business model.

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11

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comMarket CONTINUED

In this context, these are uncertain times both 
economically and politically, particularly following 
events including the UK’s vote to leave the European 
Union and the economic policy changes made, and 
under consideration, in the US. Global economic 
activity, however, has been strengthening with the 
International Monetary Fund forecasting a global 
growth rate for 2018 of 3.9%. The forecast for strong 
growth is a result of upward revisions to the EU and for 
many parts of Asia, though it also includes downward 
revisions for both the US and UK. While the ongoing 
European Union exit negotiations may have an impact 
on the Group’s business, IP Group is actively mitigating 
this through diversification to both research and 
capital. The Group has a burgeoning business in the 
US and, in 2017, established operations in Australasia. 
In addition, the Group has taken steps to broaden its 
shareholder register and now counts several large 
global investors among its shareholder base.

Global research landscape
Globally, the US remains the world’s largest R&D 
investor with nearly $463bn of gross domestic R&D 
expenditures in 2015 according to the OECD. This 
exceeded by almost one-quarter the amount of 
R&D performed in the People’s Republic of China 
($377m), the second-largest performer, which is just 
over the combined level of the EU28 area ($346m). 
However, concerns remain that a potential decline 
in government funding of science and technology 
research in some countries could pose a threat to 
innovation. The OECD Science, Technology and 
Innovation Outlook 2016, published in December 
2016, noted expenditure on R&D by universities 
and public research institutes in OECD countries 
began flattening out in 2010 following three decades 
of growth as other policy priorities, such as state 
pensions, health and social care, absorbed a growing 
share of public resources.

UK landscape
In the UK, where IP Group is predominantly based 
and where it has partnerships with 18 leading UK 
universities including access to innovation from  
both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge,  
the Government has announced a package of 
measures designed to support innovation and drive 
economic growth.

The Government’s £4.7bn stimulus package for 
science and innovation was increased in the Autumn 
Statement 2016. The Government stated that this will 
grow by a further £2.3bn of additional spending in 
2021-22, taking total direct R&D spending to £12.5bn 
per annum by 2021-22.

Stressing that research and development is a 
key driver of economic growth and a vital part 
of the Government’s ‘Industrial Strategy’, the UK 
Government also announced that it would review 
the tax environment for R&D to ensure the system is 
strongly pro-innovation to make the UK an even more 
competitive place to carry out R&D. 

The UK Government also concluded its review 
of long term investment into British firms. The 
‘Patient Capital’ review, led by the Treasury, looked 
at how to remove the obstacles to getting long 
term investment into innovative firms. The results 
from the consultation with leading industry figures 
included references to the significant need for patient 
capital and various ways to increase government 
support, such as through public/private partnerships 
and tax incentives. It is also worth noting that the 
government has recently extended the applicability of 
its Enterprise Investment Scheme in the 2017 Autumn 
budget, including an increase to the upper annual 
limit of funding that each company can take.

Competitive landscape
The number of companies and organisations seeking 
to commercialise intellectual property, and/or provide 
capital to spin-out companies from universities and 
research-intensive institutions in the UK has increased 
in recent years. Further, the Group continues to face 
the risk of competition in new geographies in which it 
seeks to operate.

When approaching new opportunities, potential 
funders, including the Group, will often act in 
a collaborative manner through syndication of 
investment. However, there are also occasions when 
IP Group may need to participate in a competitive 
process to obtain an interest in a particular 
technology. 

  READ ABOUT OUR BUSINESS MODEL ON PAGES 14 TO 15

1 

‘Top Research’ classified as the top 10% of publications cited globally. 
Includes the top 200 universities by volume of Top Research, 
2012-2015, based on data from the Leiden University Rankings 2017. 
Includes UK, US and Australasian partnerships including Oxford and 
Cambridge through strategic holdings in Oxford Sciences Innovation 
and Cambridge Innovation Capital and University College London 
through interest in UCL Technology Fund.

12

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our business & strategy

IP GROUP’S KEY DIFFERENTIATORS

• Operations in three core geographic hubs:  
UK, US and Australasia

• Breadth of partnerships with leading research institutions, 
giving access to 16.8% of the world’s Top Research

• Technology transfer capability to identify disruptive IP and to 
enable its transfer from research lab to commercial entity 

• Business-building expertise, including executive search, 
administrative support, capital sourcing and innovative 
portfolio board and CEO programmes

• “Patient capital” approach, enabling the provision  
of funding from ‘cradle to maturity’ unconstrained by 
artificiality of fixed life funds

• International shareholder and co-investor network

• Strong track record built over 15+ years

The Group and its portfolio companies regularly 
compete with a range of technology, and other, 
businesses when seeking capital for the development 
of their business models. The competition for capital, 
and for opportunities on occasion, can come from a 
wide variety of entities, including:

 y specialist traditional venture capital investors;

 y large private institutional investors;

 y privately managed schemes based on government 

funding;

 y private individuals, both acting individually or 
collectively as groups such as business angel 
networks, crowdfunding platforms or through 
beneficial tax mechanisms such as SEIS, EIS and 
VCTs in the UK;

 y direct public funding, for example the EU level 
JEREMIE fund and other national and local 
schemes; and

 y universities and research-intensive institutions 

seeking to raise private sector funding 
themselves to support their in-house technology 
commercialisation activities.

IP Group’s approach to building businesses is one of 
the ways in which it differentiates itself from more 
traditional venture funds. The Group actively supports 
the development of its portfolio companies through 
access to early-stage business-building expertise, 
interim executive support, technical and commercial 
networks and senior team recruitment and 
development in addition to the provision of capital.

In addition, the Group provides operational, legal, 
business and company secretarial support to its 
companies, with a view to minimising the most 
common administrative factors that can contribute 
to early-stage company failure. The Group has also 
successfully carried out several innovative programmes 
to accelerate company growth, including working with 
CEOs and company boards to improve performance.

In the UK, the Group also considers tax-advantaged 
Enterprise Investment Scheme (‘EIS’) funds to be an 
increasingly important source of financing for early-
stage technology companies and has seen a strong 
operating performance from its new subsidiary, 
Parkwalk, the UK’s largest EIS growth fund manager 
focused on university spin-outs, which has strong 
links to leading institutional wealth managers and 
university partners.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comBusiness model

Evolving great ideas into world-changing businesses.
The Group pioneered the concept of the long-term partnership 
model with UK universities and has spent many years honing a unique 
approach to building businesses and providing support along the 
journey from “cradle to maturity”. 

POTENTIAL 
OPPORTUNITY

START-UP PHASE

SCALE-UP PHASE

SELECTION
IP Group’s specialists work closely 
with our university partners to 
identify promising research and 
to create and build businesses 
around this research. Working 
with technology transfer teams 
and academics, we assess initial 
‘disclosures’ for their potential 
commercial viability alongside 
possible exploitation pathways.

INCUBATION
Typically a company will be set up, 
owned by the academic team, the 
university and any other founders. 
IP will be transferred in and an initial 
investment made with IP Group 
represented on the Board and 
typically taking a hands-on approach. 
Time and capital are then deployed 
to develop the ideas to an early 
commercial prototype and beyond 
with stringent milestones put in place.

SEED
Engagement with potential 
customers is sought and feedback 
used to direct effort. As milestones 
are met, further investment is 
released while commercial and 
technical teams are expanded. As 
the company shows signs of traction, 
an investment case is made for seed 
funding to accelerate growth.

SECTOR EXPERTISE

SECTOR EXPERTISE

LONG–TERM PATIENT CAPITAL

OUR SUPPORTING 
FRAMEWORK

Our sector experts 
take a hands-on role in 
business-building, working 
closely with founders to 
shape strategic direction 
and frequently taking 
an interim commercial 
management role.

14

The team is the primary interface between 
the Group and the universities and focuses 
on ‘mining’ and evaluating very early-stage 
opportunities and then developing and 
shaping them into businesses.

Our specialist early-stage in-house 
executive search team recruits 
experienced and high calibre individuals 
to lead our businesses alongside 
founders and IP Group team members.

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our business & strategy

We systematically help create, build and support outstanding 
intellectual property-based companies in order to provide attractive 
returns for all our stakeholders.

COMMERCIALISATION

SCALE-UP PHASE

DELIVERING

POST-SEED & BEYOND
As companies mature, IP Group continues to offer  
support and can help inform discussions around  
further funding as well as exit strategies whether  
trade sale or IPO. We take an active role in  
company development to help growth the value of  
the asset over time.

SECTOR EXPERTISE

LONG–TERM PATIENT CAPITAL

Sustainable Value

Financial returns

New company creation

Solutions to global 
challenges

Purpose-led employment 
opportunities 

We provide operational, legal and business 
support, including company secretarial, to our 
portfolio companies with a view to minimising 
the most common administrative factors that can 
contribute to early stage company failure.

Our specialist fund management and 
corporate advisory business seeks to create 
value for the Group’s portfolio companies 
primarily by supporting their access to 
capital as well as providing advice on 
corporate finance matters including M&A.

IP Impact has created two 
innovative programmes to 
accelerate company growth, 
working with CEOs and company 
boards to improve performance.

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15

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur strategy
Systematically building businesses

OUR STRATEGIC AIMS

WHAT WE DID IN 2017 TO ADDRESS OUR OBJECTIVES

 y Provided capital for the first time to 21 companies or 

projects, 10 UK and 11 US (2016: 20/9/11)

 y 15-year partnership agreements signed with ‘Go9’ leading 

Australian and New Zealand universities

 y First spin-out opportunities completed under US 

agreements with the University of Washington and The 
Johns Hopkins University

 y Business combination with Touchstone Innovations 

providing world-class technology transfer operation with 
Imperial College and links to UCL

 y Maintained board representation on approximately 70% of 

companies by number

 y IP Exec team placed 14 senior executives with portfolio 

companies, of which six were chair appointments and three 
were non-executive director appointments 

 y IP Capital completed seven successful portfolio company 

financing engagements 

 y Completed a significant follow on funding round in ~US 

portfolio

 y Continued to provide other support services including 

business support and legal advice to 53 spin-out companies

 y Portfolio fair value increased to £1,130.6m, with net portfolio 

gains of £94.2m

 y Portfolio excluding de minimis holdings, multi-sector 

platforms and organic holdings of 155 companies (133 UK, 
22 US)

 y Generated net portfolio gains of £94.2m 

 y Provided £71.2m of capital to 79 distinct portfolio 

investments

 y Completed the acquisition of Touchstone Innovations and 

Parkwalk Advisors

 y Generated proceeds from sale of equity and debt of £6.6m

 y Portfolio now stands at 155 companies and three multi-
sector investments with a combined total value of 
approximately £5bn

 y Total funds under management of approximately £241.9m

To create and maintain a 
pipeline of compelling intellectual 
property-based opportunities

To develop and support these 
opportunities into a diversified 
portfolio of robust businesses

To deliver attractive  
financial returns on our  
assets and third-party funds

16

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our business & strategy

OBJECTIVES FOR 2018

LINK TO KPIS

 y Maintain a similar level of new opportunity formation in 

 y Number of new portfolio companies

the UK and US

 y Create first new opportunities from Australasian partner 

universities

 y Maintain existing US and UK partnerships. Continue to 
explore potential partnerships with further world-class 
universities on a case by case basis

 y   READ MORE ON PAGES 18 TO 19

 y Optimise approach of IP Group and Touchstone across 

 y Purchase of equity and debt investments

combined Group

 y Change in fair value of equity and debt 

 y Increase value of portfolio company holdings through 

investments

 READ MORE ON PAGES 18 TO 19

hands-on support and development

 y Replicate our successful UK support model in the US and 

Australasia through the provision of local business support, 
IP Exec and IP Capital offerings

 y Seek to maintain approach of direct IP Group representation 

on spin-out company boards

 y Increase the number of executive search mandates within IP 
Exec and assist portfolio companies to increase diversity of 
boards

 y Complete capital raising mandates for certain portfolio 
companies requiring finance from non-Group sources

 y Continue to provide specialist support services such as IP 
Exec, IP Impact, IP Assist and corporate finance advice

 y Seek to continue net long-term increase in portfolio value 

 y Total equity

and net assets

 y Assist, directly or indirectly, portfolio companies to access 
public and private markets to raise development capital 

 y Where appropriate, generate cash realisations from portfolio

 y Generate attractive performance in Group’s managed funds

 y Substantially exit IP Venture Fund holdings

 y Profit/(loss) attributable to equity holders

 y Proceeds from sale of equity investments

 y Change in fair value of equity and debt 

investments

 READ MORE ON PAGES 18 TO 19

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17

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comKey performance indicators

Measuring our performance:  
focusing on delivery against our strategy

FINANCIAL KPIS

FURTHER DESCRIPTION

2017 PERFORMANCE

STRATEGIC ELEMENT

RISKS POTENTIALLY  

IMPACTING KPI

LINK TO PERFORMANCE-RELATED 

DIRECTOR REMUNERATION

Total equity (“net assets”)

The value of the Group’s assets less 
the value of its liabilities, including 
minority interest

£1,508.5m  

(2016: £768.7m)

Profit/loss attributable to  
equity holders

Profit/loss after tax for the year, 

attributable to owners of the parent £49.7m  

(2016: £(13.5)m)

To grow the value of our assets (and those 

we manage on behalf of third parties) and 

deliver attractive financial returns from these 

assets

Portfolio fair value movement has the most 

material impact on this figure which also 

reflects corporate expenses. Measures the 

development of portfolio companies and 

return on our assets

1   2   5   6

LTIP 2015 – 2017

1   2   5   6

2017 annual incentive

Purchase of equity and  
debt investments

The total level of capital deployed 
from the Group’s balance sheet into 
portfolio companies during the year

£71.2m  

(2016: £69.7m)

Build and maintain a pipeline of IP-based 

opportunities and develop these into robust 

businesses

2   3   4   6

Indirectly impacts both net 

assets and Group profit/loss 

(See above)

Net portfolio gains

Movement in the value of holdings 
in the portfolio due to share price 
movements or impairments in value 
and realisations

£94.2m  

(2016: £6.5m)

To develop IP-based businesses and grow 

their value

1   2   5

Indirectly impacts both net 

assets and Group profit/loss 

(See above)

Proceeds from sale of  
equity investments

The total amount received from the 
disposal of interests in  
portfolio companies

£6.6m  

(2016: £14.7m)

Cash from proceeds can be used for 

redeployment into the portfolio or for new 

opportunities

1   2   5

Indirectly impacts both net 

assets and Group profit/loss 

(See above)

NON-FINANCIAL KPIS

Number of new  
portfolio investments

The number of portfolio investments 
that received initial capital from the 
Group during the year

21  

(2016: 20)

Build and maintain a pipeline of IP-based 

opportunities and develop these into robust 

businesses

3   4   5   6

Indirectly impacts both net 

assets and Group profit/loss 

(See above)

KEY

1

4

Access to capital

Personnel

2

5

Early-stage company returns

Macroeconomic conditions

3

6

University partnerships

Legislation and regulation

18

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our performance

FINANCIAL KPIS

FURTHER DESCRIPTION

2017 PERFORMANCE

STRATEGIC ELEMENT

RISKS POTENTIALLY  
IMPACTING KPI

LINK TO PERFORMANCE-RELATED 
DIRECTOR REMUNERATION

Total equity (“net assets”)

The value of the Group’s assets less 

the value of its liabilities, including 

minority interest

£1,508.5m  

(2016: £768.7m)

Profit/loss attributable to  

equity holders

Profit/loss after tax for the year, 

attributable to owners of the parent £49.7m  

(2016: £(13.5)m)

To grow the value of our assets (and those 
we manage on behalf of third parties) and 
deliver attractive financial returns from these 
assets

Portfolio fair value movement has the most 
material impact on this figure which also 
reflects corporate expenses. Measures the 
development of portfolio companies and 
return on our assets

1   2   5   6

LTIP 2015 – 2017

1   2   5   6

2017 annual incentive

Purchase of equity and  

debt investments

The total level of capital deployed 

from the Group’s balance sheet into 

portfolio companies during the year

£71.2m  

(2016: £69.7m)

Build and maintain a pipeline of IP-based 
opportunities and develop these into robust 
businesses

2   3   4   6

Indirectly impacts both net 
assets and Group profit/loss 
(See above)

Net portfolio gains

Movement in the value of holdings 

in the portfolio due to share price 

movements or impairments in value 

and realisations

£94.2m  

(2016: £6.5m)

To develop IP-based businesses and grow 
their value

1   2   5

Indirectly impacts both net 
assets and Group profit/loss 
(See above)

Proceeds from sale of  

equity investments

The total amount received from the 

disposal of interests in  

portfolio companies

£6.6m  

(2016: £14.7m)

Cash from proceeds can be used for 
redeployment into the portfolio or for new 
opportunities

1   2   5

Indirectly impacts both net 
assets and Group profit/loss 
(See above)

NON-FINANCIAL KPIS

Number of new  

portfolio investments

The number of portfolio investments 

that received initial capital from the 

Group during the year

21  

(2016: 20)

Build and maintain a pipeline of IP-based 
opportunities and develop these into robust 
businesses

3   4   5   6

Indirectly impacts both net 
assets and Group profit/loss 
(See above)

  FOR MORE INFORMATION  
ON OUR STRATEGY  
SEE PAGES 16 TO 17

  FOR MORE INFORMATION  
ON OUR RISK 
MANAGEMENT  
SEE PAGES 46 TO 53

  FOR MORE INFORMATION  
ON OUR REMUNERATION  
SEE PAGES 80 TO 99

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19

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOperational review

The Board continues to believe the 
fundamentals of the business remain strong 
and appeal to an increasingly broad set of 
international investors. 
ALAN AUBREY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

2017 was an important year for IP Group, which has 
seen a period of intense corporate activity including 
the transaction with Touchstone Innovations plc. 
The integration of the two businesses was a key 
operational focus throughout the latter part of the 
year that has continued into 2018. The combination 
added a maturing portfolio of 451 new companies 
to the Group, which we have fair valued at £352.2m 
on completion. This compares to Touchstone’s last 
audited accounts at 31 July 2017, which reported 
a portfolio fair value of £461.1m. These businesses 
complement our existing portfolio companies while 
presenting growth opportunities across our newly-
formed life sciences and technology sectors. Further 
information on the companies added through the 
Touchstone combination is included in the portfolio 
review on pages 38 to 39.

Throughout 2017 we have remained focussed on 
delivering attractive returns from the portfolio, 
delivering net portfolio gains of £92.4m, resulting 
from a combination of technical and commercial 
progress in our portfolio companies, and successful 
fundraising transactions. Included in the former 
category were gains from Istesso Limited (£45.1m). 
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited (£27.8m), 
Ceres Power Holdings plc (£13.5m) and Diurnal Group 
plc (£9.4m), while in the latter category were gains in 
Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited (£11.8m)2, and Creavo 
Medical Technologies Limited (£5.3m)2.

The most significant fair value reductions were seen in 
a small number of the Group’s AIM-quoted portfolio 
companies including hVIVO plc (£15.0m), Tissue 
Regenix Group plc (£11.8m) and Applied Graphene 
Materials plc (£3.8m). In addition, there were write-
downs in a small number of existing IP Group private 
companies (£10.0m).

During 2017, the Group provided £71.2m of incubation, 
seed and development capital to 79 portfolio 
companies (2016: £58.8m capital excluding multi 
sector platforms; 55 companies).

Significant portfolio company 
transactions and developments
Notable highlights in the portfolio in 2017 included:

LIFE SCIENCES            

This year saw the transition of our single asset 
drug discovery company Istesso Limited (formerly 
Modern Biosciences plc) from a subsidiary to a 
portfolio company, resulting in a £45.1m profit on 
deconsolidation. We have operated Istesso Limited 
as a subsidiary since 2007 as it has progressed its 
MBS2320 lead product through product development 
and into the clinic, however it has always been 
our intention to spin out the business once it 
had achieved a significant value inflection point. 
Following the commencement of MBS2320’s Phase 
2a clinical trial in rheumatoid arthritis in partnership 
with Johnson and Johnson, we recruited two 
industry-expert non-executive directors in the latter 
half of the year as part of the establishment of an 
independent board for the company. In combination 
with a reduction in the Group’s voting rights and 
a restructuring of debt funding the business, the 
company is now recognised in our portfolio rather 
than as a consolidated subsidiary.

The Group’s largest holding, Oxford Nanopore, made 
significant commercial progress in the year. Oxford 
Nanopore is the company behind the world’s only 
portable, real-time DNA/RNA sequencer, the MinION. 
Its goal is to enable the analysis of any living thing, by 
any person, in any environment – to disrupt multiple 

20

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017                                 
Strategic Report Our performance

scientific and industrial markets. Oxford Nanopore 
is now entering its third commercial year and has 
reported having a customer base of thousands 
of MinION users, mostly in the scientific research 
community. The company also introduced larger 
formats in the year - GridION and PromethION - that 
start to access the higher-throughput end of the 
sequencing market. The company reported that orders 
for its products have trebled to $23.5m in 2017 and 
with an expectation of $75m for 2018.Based on the 
commercial and scientific progress made in the year, 
and that more than twelve months had elapsed since 
its last financing, the Group updated its valuation 
of the business, resulting in a fair value gain of 
£27.8m. The validity of this valuation assessment was 
confirmed in March 2018 on completion of a £100m 
fundraising with the addition of a group of major new 
investors from Singapore, China and Australia.

Another significant fair value gain of £9.4m came 
from AIM-listed Diurnal Group plc, one of the Group’s 
most advanced biotech assets. Diurnal has two 
products either in or having completed Phase 3 
studies, Infacort and Chronocort, for the treatment of 
the childhood and adult forms of adrenal insufficiency 
respectively, and anticipates market launch for its 
first product in Q2 2018. Among the larger assets, 
it was encouraging to note a positive impact 
from Circassia Pharmaceuticals plc, a Touchstone 
Innovations plc company, where positive share price 
performance led to a £4.2m fair value gain from 
the date of acquisition to the year end. Another 
Touchstone company, Autifony Therapeutics, signed 
a €627.5m collaboration agreement in December with 
Boehringer Ingelheim in respect of its voltage gated 
potassium channel modulator platform, including for 
the treatment of schizophrenia.

TECHNOLOGY

The most valuable holding in the Technology 
portfolio, AIM-listed Ceres Power Holdings plc, 
made excellent commercial progress in the year 
resulting in a positive movement in Ceres’ share 
price which translated to a £13.5m gain for the 
Group. The company’s annual results, announced 
in October, showed revenue increase “ahead of 
expectations” and up 140% from last year to £4.1m 
(2016: £1.7m) while in September, Ceres announced 
the successful conclusion of a one-year field trial in 
homes in the UK. The results showed that the Ceres 
SteelCell® technology is reliable and could reduce 
annual household energy costs by £400 and carbon 
emissions by up to 2 tonnes per year. Finally, the 
company announced that it has secured its fifth OEM 
partner in a pre-close trading update in December. 
Four of our other key technology assets all completed 
substantial fundraisings in 2017, each involving high-
quality new institutional shareholders.

More detail on the performance of our assets is 
contained in the portfolio review.

North America
In North America, IP Group, Inc. continued its positive 
momentum, positioning the business well for 2018. We 
finished the year with eight institutional relationships, 
five with prominent universities and three with US 
Department of Energy Laboratories. Collectively, 
these institutions represented $7.9bn (£5.9bn) in total 
annual R&D spending, with four of the universities in 
the top 10 for annual R&D expenditure and notable 
for conducting world-leading research across a broad 
range of life and physical science disciplines. Initial 
investments in technologies from several partners were 
completed: TuneOptix (University of Washington), 
BetterClouds (Argonne National Laboratory) and 
Lorem (Johns Hopkins University). We also continued 
our incubation of new technologies at our mature 
partnerships: Penn (2), Princeton (1), Columbia (2),  
NREL (1), PNNL (2).

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21

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com                                             
Operational review CONTINUED

By the end of the year, our team in North America 
had grown to 15 representing more than 13 advanced 
degrees, including six PhDs. The team has continued 
to work directly with our research partners in ‘high-
touch’ engagement to develop a deep pipeline of 
future opportunities and to advance the existing 
portfolio of exciting companies, 22 in total so far. 
The North American business has established a 
portfolio that continues to attract strong US investor 
interest from both financial and strategic investors. 
During 2017, we continued to see strong external 
validation and support for our US portfolio. To 
date, our portfolio has attracted $11m of external 
investment. Exyn Technologies (University of 
Pennsylvania) in January 2018 raised $3m from 
new investors and Lumiode (Columbia University) 
received an investment from a large (c.$60bn) US 
strategic investor. In September, Cynash, Inc. (Pacific 
Northwest National Laboratories) commercialised 
three technologies from the Department of Homeland 
Security Science and Technology Directorate through 
its Transition to Practice program creating a novel 
cyber-defence technique and introducing the new 
cybersecurity solution to the marketplace. CARMA 
Therapeutics (University of Pennsylvania) was voted 
one of the top 20 life science start-ups to watch in 
2018 by industry trade publication BioSpace.

In November, the Group hosted its third annual Hard 
Science Innovation Forum in Philadelphia, showcasing 
more than 16 investments to more than 200 investors, 
academics, politicians, and partners. This event 
comprised panel discussions that examined investing 
in innovation, advancements in oncology research, AI, 
robotics and drone technology.

Australasia/the Far East
In Australasia, the Group was excited to launch 
a landmark agreement with Australasia’s leading 
universities, under which it anticipates investing at 
least AU$200m (c.£116m)3 in funding and developing 
companies involved in disruptive innovation. The 
10+10-year agreements with the Group of Eight (Go8) 
universities in Australia and Auckland University in 
New Zealand are the first of their kind, and provide for 
the Group to gain access to the intellectual property 
generated by academics at the partner universities.

The Go8 comprises Australia’s eight leading research 
Universities - The University of Melbourne, The 
Australian National University, The University of 
Sydney, The University of Queensland, The University 
of Western Australia, The University of Adelaide, 
Monash University and the University of NSW. Each of 
the nine partner universities in Australasia 

is consistently ranked in the top 150 institutions 
worldwide, and each year spend in excess of A$6bn 
(c.£3.5bn) on research. 

On the capital side, the Group was delighted to 
welcome TelstraSuper, a significant Australian 
superannuation fund with AU$19 billion under 
management, to the Group’s shareholder register as 
part of the capital raising. In addition, it is pleased to 
be working with Hostplus, one of Australia’s largest 
superannuation funds with over AU$30 billion in 
funds under management, who has committed 
AU$100m to a global co-investment mandate with 
the Group and who made its first investment as 
part of Oxford Nanopore’s March 2018 financing. 
Following the appointment of the senior team 
for our Australasian business in October, we have 
identified what we consider to be an attractive 
pipeline of opportunities and anticipate making initial 
investments in 2018.

The Group also held ‘Deep Tech Forum’ events in 
Shenzhen and Beijing in China, bringing together 
ten of our portfolio companies (Oxford Nanopore, 
Tissue Regenix, Istesso, Diurnal, Ceres Power, Eight 
19, Medaphor, Creavo, Xeros, Mirriad) and over 300 
Chinese private equity and venture capital investors, 
corporate representatives and government bodies. 
The event was aimed at capitalising on strong 
Chinese investor interest in the IP Group story and 
the innovative companies we help build and resulted 
in many new relationships, investment and business 
opportunities and strategic collaboration opportunities 
both for the Group and our portfolio companies.

Outlook
The Board continues to believe the fundamentals 
of the business remain strong and appeal to an 
increasingly broad set of international investors. 
While it remains important to consider the Group 
as a long-term business where results can fluctuate 
from year to year, IP Group has a maturing portfolio 
of exciting assets as well as an expanded pipeline 
of opportunities around the world. The Group also 
has a sound balance sheet, a strong core business in 
the UK and exciting emerging opportunities in both 
the US and Australasia. These factors, combined 
with a number of anticipated value inflection points 
this year, particularly in our life sciences portfolio, 
means we look to the rest of the year with continued 
confidence. 

1 

Excluding a further 39 organic holdings and 42 de minimis holdings

2  Of the fair value gains noted above, the following amounts are 

attributable to the third party limited partners in the consolidated 
fund, IPVF II: Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited £2.0m, Creavo Medical 
Technologies Limited £0.9m

3 

1.73 AUD/GBP at 31 December 2017

22

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our performance

considered de minimis. These investments fall relatively 
evenly by number across the Group’s two sectors, Life 
Sciences and Technology, and help to diversity the 
Group’s portfolio, with the proportion of the portfolio 
represented by Oxford Nanopore Technologies falling 
from 40.1% in 2016 to 24.4% at the end of 2017. The 
acquisition has contributed eight of the Group’s 20 
largest investments by year-end value.

Two companies were sold during the year  
(2016: three), two were acquired by existing portfolio 
companies, and a further two companies, with a total 
historic cost of £2.9m, were closed or fully provided 
against (2016: four, £4.8m).

During the year, cash proceeds from the realisation of 
investments were £6.6m (2016: £14.7m), with a further 
£1.0m received after the year-end. The proceeds 
received during the year were primarily driven by the 
disposal of interests in Puridify Limited and Plaxica 
Limited, cash received post year-end related to the 
sale of Theysay Limited in December 2017. Prior 
year realisations predominantly arose from the cash 
received from the sales of Tracsis plc, Gold Standard 
Simulations Limited and Summit Therapeutics plc.

Portfolio Review

Our portfolio:  
Significant enhancements  
to size and maturity

Overview
At 31 December 2017 the value of the Group’s 
portfolio had increased to £1,130.6m, from £614.0m 
in 2016, as a result of the acquisition of Touchstone 
Innovations plc’s portfolio of £352.2m, the fair value 
movements set out below and a net investment of 
£64.6m. The portfolio now consists of interests in 155 
companies (133 UK and 22 US), strategic holdings 
in three multi-sector platform businesses as well 
as a further 42 de minimis holdings and 39 organic 
holdings (2016: 90,3,20,0). Of these 155 holdings, the 
20 most valuable portfolio companies account for 
65% of the total portfolio value (2016: 76%). 

During the year to 31 December 2017, the Group 
provided pre-seed, seed and post-seed capital totalling 
approximately £71.2m to its portfolio companies (2016: 
£69.7m). In contrast to the prior year, in which there 
were large investments made into the Group’s multi-
sector platform holdings, this year the investments 
have been more broadly spread across the portfolio. 

The Directors continue to believe that the Group’s 
ability to utilise its capital to maintain its equity 
interests in its most promising companies will 
contribute to significant potential fair value increases 
in the portfolio over the medium to long term.

The Group deployed capital into 21 new companies or 
projects during the year (2016: 20), ten of which were 
sourced from the UK (2016: 13), and 11 from the US 
(2016: seven). Both geographies have again provided 
consistent pipelines of opportunities, helping to 
further diversify the portfolio geographically.

In addition to this organic growth, the Group’s 
portfolio increased substantially in size following the 
acquisition of Touchstone Innovations plc in October 
2017. This transaction resulted in the addition of 45 
new actively managed investments, a further 39 
organic investments and 27 investments which are 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

23

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comPortfolio review

Performance summary
A summary of the Income Statement gains and losses 
which are directly attributable to the portfolio is as 
follows: 

Unrealised gains on the 
revaluation of investments

Unrealised losses on the 
revaluation of investments

Effects of movement in 
exchange rates

Change in fair value of equity 
and debt investments

Gain/(loss) on disposals of 
equity investments

Gain on deconsolidation of 
subsidiary

Net portfolio gains

2017
 £m

99.3

2016
£m

56.6

(49.2)

(50.3)

(1.1)

49.0

0.7

7.0

0.1

(0.5)

45.1

94.2

—

6.5

The most significant contributors to unrealised 
gains on the revaluation of investments Oxford 
Nanopore Technologies Limited (£27.8m), Ceres 
Power Holdings plc (£13.5m), Ultrahaptics Holdings 
Limited (£11.8m)4 and Diurnal Group plc (£9.4m). The 
major contributors to the unrealised losses on the 
revaluation of investments were hVivo plc (£15.0m), 
Tissue Regenix Group plc (£11.8m) and Applied 
Graphene Materials plc (£3.8m).

The performance of the Group’s holdings in 
companies quoted on AIM saw a net unrealised fair 
value decrease of £1.0m (2016: decrease of £36.1m) 
while the Group’s holdings in unquoted companies 
experienced a net fair value increase of £49.9m (2016: 
increase of £43.1m), in addition to a £45.1m gain in 
respect of the deconsolidation of Istesso Limited 
(formerly Modern Biosciences plc) and its recognition 
as a portfolio company.

Since the year-end, i.e. between 31 December 2017 
and 28 March 2018, the fair value of the Group’s 
holdings in companies whose shares are listed on the 
AIM market experienced a net fair value decrease of 
£30.0m.

4  Of the fair value gains noted above, the following amounts are 

attributable to the third party limited partners in the consolidated 
fund, IPVF II: Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited £2.0m.

24

Investments and realisations
The Group’s overall rate of capital deployment 
increased during 2017, with a total of £71.2m being 
deployed across 79 new and existing projects (2016: 
£58.8m (excluding the £7.5m and £3.4m strategic 
investments into OSI and CIC); 55 projects).

The average level of capital deployed per company 
decreased from £1.2m to £0.9m in 2017. Excluding 
the Group’s participation in Oxford Nanopore 
Technologies Limited’s 2016 financing round and 
Oxford Sciences Innovation plc’s 2016 financing 
round, the average investment per company was 
£0.7m in 2016.

Cash invested by company stage was as follows:

Focus

Development

Early stage

Total

Multi-sector platforms

Total purchase of equity and 
debt investments

Cash proceeds from sales of 
equity investments

Net investment

2017
 £m

33.7

29.1

8.4

71.2

—

2016
£m

39.0

10.8

9.0

58.8

10.9

71.2

69.7

6.6

64.6

14.7

55.0

The Development stage group includes other 
businesses to which the Group has provided in excess 
of £0.5m as principal investor, or in excess of £1.0m of 
funding in conjunction with other significant investors. 
Although each business can vary significantly in its 
rate and manner of development, such additional 
funding is generally used to progress towards key 
milestones and commercial validation, to build 
senior level capability in the business and to attract 
experienced non-executive directors to their boards.

Early-stage companies include both incubation 
and seed opportunities. Incubation opportunities 
comprise businesses or pre-incorporation 
projects that are generally at a very early stage 
of development, at most within three years since 
the Group’s first financing, and have received at 
least one stage of funding. Opportunities at this 
stage usually involve capital of less than £0.2m 
from IP Group, predominantly allowing for proof of 
concept work to be carried out. Seed businesses 
are those that have typically received financing 
of up to £1m in total, primarily from the Group, in 
order to continue towards agreed commercial and 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our performance

technology milestones and to enable the recruitment 
of management teams and early commercial 
engagement.

Portfolio companies which are classed as being in the 
Focus stage are those which comprise the largest 20 
investments by value (excluding multi-sector platform 
companies). In 2016 Focus investments were those in 
which the Group’s holding had a fair value in excess 
of £4m, and this change has been made following the 
acquisition of Touchstone and the resulting  
larger portfolio.

Finally, the multi-sector platform companies in which 
the Group has taken a strategic stake operate a similar 
business model of sourcing and developing university 
spin-outs, typically from a single institution. These 
companies include Oxford Sciences Innovation plc 
(“OSI”) and Cambridge Innovation Capital plc (“CIC”).

Those companies which either do not progress 
beyond the incubation stage within three years of 
the Group’s initial funding and/or whose value has 
subsequently fallen to below £0.1m, but remain as 
operating businesses are classed as de minimis 
holdings. Organic holdings are investments in which 
the Group has acquired a shareholding upon creating 
the company via our technology transfer relationship 
with Imperial College London, but in which we have 
not actively invested.

Since its inception in May 2013, IP Venture Fund 
II (“IPVFII”), the £30m venture capital successor 
fund to IP Venture Fund, has invested alongside the 
Group in 27 companies spun-out from IP Group’s 
university partnerships and other collaborations. At 
31 December 2017, IPVFII had invested £15.6m into 
spin-out companies from incubation stage through 
seed and post-seed stage (2016: £10.6m), with an 
investment ratio of 30:70 (IP Venture Fund II: IP 
Group). Further, IP Group holds a 33% interest in 
IP Venture Fund II. In complying with IFRS 10, the 
Group consolidates the assets, liabilities and results 
of IPVFII. In order to reflect meaningful information 
to its shareholders, the detailed sectoral analysis 
tables included in this Portfolio review reflect the 
Group’s economic interest in portfolio company 
holdings, including an estimate of its “look through” 
interest via IPVFII, which as noted above is calculated 
as one third of IPVFII’s holdings in such companies. 
The minority interest ownership, i.e. that element 
of IPVFII’s holdings that is attributable to external 
limited partners, is reflected in a separate section 
within those tables.

During the year, 21 opportunities received initial 
incubation or seed funding (2016: 19) and no 
companies received initial post-seed funding  
(2016: one). 

  FOR MORE INFORMATION  
ON LIFE SCIENCES SECTOR 
SEE PAGES 30 TO 33

25

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comPortfolio review CONTINUED

Portfolio analysis by stage of company maturity
At 31 December 2017, the Group’s portfolio fair value of £1,130.6m was distributed across stages of company 
maturity as follows:

As at 31 December 2017

As at 31 December 2016

Stage

Focus

Development

Early-stage

Total

Fair value
£m

709.6

307.2

21.6

%

68%

30%

2%

1,038.4

100%

Multi-sector platforms

De minimis holdings

Organic

Total Portfolio

Attributable to third 
parties1

Gross Portfolio

62.9

1.3

5.7

1,108.3

22.3

1,130.6

—

—

—

—

Number

%

12%

54%

34%

100%

—

—

—

—

19

84

52

155

3

42

39

239

%

86%

11%

3%

100%

—

—

—

—

Fair value
£m

463.5 

58.7 

19.2 

541.4 

62.5 

0.9

—

604.8

9.2

614.0

Number

19

32

39

90

3

20

—

113

%

21%

36%

43%

100%

—

—

—

—

1 

The amount attributable to third parties consists of £16.3m attributable to minority interests represented by third party limited partners in the 
consolidated fund, IPVFII, £5.7m attributable to Imperial College London and £0.3m to other third parties (2016: £9.2m, £nil, £nil).

Of the 155 companies in the Group’s portfolio, 
52% (2016: 76%) of the fair value resides in the ten 
most valuable companies (excluding multi-sector 
platforms) and the Group’s holdings in  
these businesses are valued at a total of £573.8m  
(2016: £418.2m).

The total value of the Group’s 155 portfolio 
companies (excluding multi-sector platforms, organic 
investments and de minimis holdings), calculated by 
reference to the Group’s holding in such companies 
and grossed up to reflect their total value, is now 
in excess of £4bn, or approximately £5bn including 
the Group’s three holdings in multi-sector platform 
companies (Oxford Sciences Innovation plc, 
Cambridge Innovation Capital plc and Frontier  
IP Group plc) (2016: £2.7bn, £3.3bn).

  FOR MORE INFORMATION  
ON THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR  
SEE PAGES 34 TO 35

26

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our performance

Portfolio analysis by sector
The Group funds spin-out companies based on a wide variety of scientific research emerging from leading 
research-intensive institutions and does not limit itself to funding companies from particular areas of science. 
The Group splits its core opportunity evaluation, investment and business building team into two specialist 
divisions, Life Sciences and Technology. This is a departure from previous years when the management of 
the portfolio was split between Healthcare, Biotech, Technology and Cleantech and the change has been 
made as part of the acquisition of Touchstone Innovations plc. The sectors formerly known as Healthcare and 
Biotech now constitute the Life Sciences sector while those formerly known as Technology and Cleantech now 
constitute the Technology sector. Where the Group invests in businesses that cannot be classified within these 
divisions, primarily those portfolio companies which also invest in other opportunities, they are recorded in 
a separate sector as shown below. Together these three sectors make up the Group’s ‘university partnership’ 
business segment. An update on the other two operating segments is included in the financial review on pages 
40 to 45.

As at 31 December 2017

As at 31 December 2016

Sector

Life Sciences

Technology

Total

Fair value
£m

%

704.4

334.0

68%

32%

1,038.4

100%

Multi-sector platforms

De minimis holdings

Organic

Total Portfolio

Attributable to third parties1

Gross Portfolio

62.9

1.3

5.7

1,108.3

22.3

1,130.6

—

—

—

—

Number

%

47%

53%

100%

—

—

—

—

73

82

155

3

42

39

239

%

69%

31%

100%

—

—

—

—

Fair value
£m

375.4 

166.0 

541.4 

62.5 

0.9

—

604.8

9.2

614.0

Number

%

43%

57%

100%

—

—

—

—

39

51

90

3

20

—

113

1 

The amount attributable to third parties consists of £16.3m attributable to minority interests represented by third party limited partners in the 
consolidated fund, IPVFII, £5.7m attributable to Imperial College London and £0.3m to other third parties (2016: £9.2m, £nil, £nil).

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

27

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comPortfolio review CONTINUED

The following table lists the value movements attributable to the largest twenty portfolio investments by value, 
which represent 69.0% of the total portfolio value (2016: 85.1%). Additional detail on the performance of these 
companies is included in the Life Sciences and Technology portfolio reviews.

COMPANY NAME

DESCRIPTION

Oxford Nanopore Technologies 
Limited 

Enabling the analysis of any living thing, by any person, in any 
environment

Oxford Sciences Innovation plc 

University of Oxford preferred IP partner under 15-year framework 
agreement

Istesso Limited

Reprogramming metabolism to treat autoimmune disease

PsiOxus Therapeutics Limited

Oncolytic viral therapeutics for cancer

Diurnal Group plc

Novel treatments of hormone deficiency

Ceres Power Holdings plc

World leading developer of next generation fuel cell technology

Actual Experience plc

Optimising the human experience of networked applications

Circassia plc

Developing a range of novel immunotherapies

Cell Medica Limited

T cell therapeutics for oncology

Xeros Technology Group plc

Polymer bead cleaning systems

Autifony Limited

Developing high value, novel medicines to treat CNS diseases

Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited

Contactless haptic technology "feeling without touching"

Mirriad Advertising plc

Native in-video advertising for post-production ad placement

Featurespace Limited

Leading predictive analytics company

Ieso Digital Health Limited

Live, online cognitive behavioural therapy

Creavo Medical Technologies Limited Quantum cardiac imaging technology

Veryan Medical Limited

Development and commercialisation of novel 3D stent technology for 
the peripheral vasculature

First Light Fusion Limited

Net methodology for achieving extreme intensity cavity collapse

Tissue Regenix Group plc

Regenerative dCELL® soft tissue body parts

Topivert Limited

Small molecule therapeutics for G1 and Ophtha indications

Other companies (138 companies) 

De minimis investments

Value not attributable to equity holders

Total

i 

Represents the Group’s undiluted beneficial economic equity 
interest (excluding debt) including the portion of IPVFII’s stake 
attributable to the Group. Voting interest is below 50%.

ii 

iii 

Includes £51.1m movement in respect of the deconsolidation of 
Istesso Limited and recognition as a portfolio company.
Includes £0.5m fees settled in equity.

28

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Sector, Quoted (Q)/ 

Unquoted (U)

%

Group 

stake

at 31 Dec

2017 (i)

%

Fair value 

of Group 

Acquisitions 

holding at 

of Touchstone 

31 Dec 

Innovations 

2016

£m

plc

£m

 investment/ 

(divestment)(ii)

Fair value

 movement

and fees 

settled in 

equity(iii)

£m

Fair value 

of Group 

holding at 

31 Dec 

2017

£m

Life Sciences (U)

19.6%

246.3

27.8

274.1

Multi-sector  

platforms (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (Q)

Technology (Q)

Technology (Q)

Life Sciences (Q)

Life Sciences (U)

Technology (Q)

Life Sciences (U)

Technology (U)

Technology (Q)

Technology (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Technology (U)

Life Sciences (Q)

Life Sciences (U)

7.9%

61.1%

26.3%

44.7%

25.4%

22.2%

8.0%

24.6%

10.9%

26.4%

31.0%

27.7%

27.9%

49.5%

39.5%

46.1%

34.9%

13.1%

29.6%

44.5

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

22.5

20.6

23.9

15.6

10.2

—

11.7

—

—

13.8

183.4

—

6.0

55.5

—

—

29.3

18.0

23.4

—

—

—

20.2

8.0

13.4

—

—

6.6

—

13.9

20.6

—

148.8

0.8

9.2

5.7

Net

£m

—

—

51.1

—

—

—

1.5

—

2.0

—

4.0

3.7

—

4.5

3.2

2.3

—

5.0

—

28.5

—

3.4

114.9

—

—

—

9.4

13.5

3.5

4.2

—

3.6

—

9.8

—

—

4.6

(0.6)

—

—

—

(11.8)

0.2

3.7

55.5

51.1

44.5

38.7

31.5

28.4

26.7

26.3

25.8

23.9

21.8

16.5

15.6

14.7

14.4

14.0

13.9

13.8

13.8

1.0

22.3

(18.4) 

342.3

614.0

352.2

49.5

1,130.6

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017COMPANY NAME

DESCRIPTION

Oxford Nanopore Technologies 

Enabling the analysis of any living thing, by any person, in any 

Limited 

Oxford Sciences Innovation plc 

University of Oxford preferred IP partner under 15-year framework 

environment

agreement

Istesso Limited

Reprogramming metabolism to treat autoimmune disease

PsiOxus Therapeutics Limited

Oncolytic viral therapeutics for cancer

Diurnal Group plc

Novel treatments of hormone deficiency

Ceres Power Holdings plc

World leading developer of next generation fuel cell technology

Actual Experience plc

Optimising the human experience of networked applications

Circassia plc

Developing a range of novel immunotherapies

Cell Medica Limited

T cell therapeutics for oncology

Xeros Technology Group plc

Polymer bead cleaning systems

Autifony Limited

Developing high value, novel medicines to treat CNS diseases

Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited

Contactless haptic technology "feeling without touching"

Mirriad Advertising plc

Native in-video advertising for post-production ad placement

Featurespace Limited

Leading predictive analytics company

Ieso Digital Health Limited

Live, online cognitive behavioural therapy

Creavo Medical Technologies Limited Quantum cardiac imaging technology

Veryan Medical Limited

Development and commercialisation of novel 3D stent technology for 

the peripheral vasculature

First Light Fusion Limited

Net methodology for achieving extreme intensity cavity collapse

Tissue Regenix Group plc

Regenerative dCELL® soft tissue body parts

Topivert Limited

Small molecule therapeutics for G1 and Ophtha indications

Other companies (138 companies) 

De minimis investments

Value not attributable to equity holders

Total

Strategic Report Our performance

Sector, Quoted (Q)/ 
Unquoted (U)
%

Group 
stake
at 31 Dec
2017 (i)
%

Fair value 
of Group 
holding at 
31 Dec 
2016
£m

Acquisitions 
of Touchstone 
Innovations 
plc
£m

Net
 investment/ 
(divestment)(ii)
£m

Fair value
 movement
and fees 
settled in 
equity(iii)
£m

Fair value 
of Group 
holding at 
31 Dec 
2017
£m

Life Sciences (U)

19.6%

246.3

Multi-sector  
platforms (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (Q)

Technology (Q)

Technology (Q)

Life Sciences (Q)

Life Sciences (U)

Technology (Q)

Life Sciences (U)

Technology (U)

Technology (Q)

Technology (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Life Sciences (U)

Technology (U)

Life Sciences (Q)

Life Sciences (U)

7.9%

61.1%

26.3%

44.7%

25.4%

22.2%

8.0%

24.6%

10.9%

26.4%

31.0%

27.7%

27.9%

49.5%

39.5%

46.1%

34.9%

13.1%

29.6%

55.5

—

—

29.3

18.0

23.4

—

—

20.2

—

8.0

13.4

—

—

6.6

—

13.9

20.6

—

148.8

0.8

9.2

—

—

—

44.5

—

—

—

22.5

20.6

—

23.9

—

—

15.6

10.2

—

11.7

—

—

13.8

183.4

—

6.0

614.0

352.2

—

—

51.1

—

—

—

1.5

—

5.7

2.0

—

4.0

3.7

—

4.5

3.2

2.3

—

5.0

—

28.5

—

3.4

114.9

27.8

274.1

—

—

—

9.4

13.5

3.5

4.2

—

3.6

—

9.8

(0.6)

—

—

4.6

—

—

(11.8)

—

55.5

51.1

44.5

38.7

31.5

28.4

26.7

26.3

25.8

23.9

21.8

16.5

15.6

14.7

14.4

14.0

13.9

13.8

13.8

(18.4) 

342.3

0.2

3.7

1.0

22.3

49.5

1,130.6

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comPortfolio review
LIFE SCIENCES

Significant commercial and scientific  
progress across the portfolio in 2017 
DR SAM WILLIAMS MANAGING PARTNER, LIFE SCIENCES

IP Group’s Life Sciences portfolio 
comprises 73 companies worth  
£704.4m as at 31 December 2017.  
This includes an additional 23 
companies, valued at £235.8m 
following the acquisition of 
Touchstone Innovations plc.

Oxford Nanopore consolidated significant 
improvements in the performance of its technology, 
most notably on accuracy and the yields of data 
customers can achieve, by implication making 
the technology cheaper ‘per base’. This marked a 
transition from an emerging technology with novel 
features such as portability, real-time data, direct 
analysis and simple preparation, to a technology 
that was also competitive on traditional metrics. 
In 2017, Oxford Nanopore noted that it required a 
performance of 50Gb per PromethION Flow Cell in 
order to release the product to customers. This was 
achieved in December 2017, and early in the New 
Year the Company reported achieving 150Gb of data 
from a single PromethION Flow Cell, approaching the 
requirement for two 30X human genomes on a single 
consumable (PromethION is designed to run up to 
48 Flow Cells at any time). These increased yields 
correspond to a lower cost per Gb for customers, a 
key competitive metric, but also the ability to deliver 
real-time, long read nanopore sequencing data at large 
scale required for human, plant, or population studies. 
Early results from customers indicates examples of 
>70Gb per PromethION Flow Cell and we await further 
news with interest. In addition, the release of new 
chemistries, software and other materials has resulted 
in a consensus accuracy level of 99.98% when using 
certain tools - sufficient to serve most of the research 
market applications. The Company has spoken in 
presentations about its intended pathway to the 
highest levels of consensus accuracy.

Review of the year
Oxford Nanopore
The Group’s largest holding, Oxford Nanopore 
Technologies Ltd, made tremendous commercial 
progress in the year. Oxford Nanopore is the 
company behind the world’s only portable, real-
time DNA/RNA sequencer, the MinION. Its goal is to 
enable the analysis of any living thing, by any person, 
in any environment – to disrupt multiple scientific and 
industrial markets.

Oxford Nanopore is now entering its third commercial 
year and has reported having a customer base of 
thousands’ of MinION users, mostly in the scientific 
research community. The company also introduced 
larger formats in the year - GridION and PromethION 
- that start to access the lucrative higher-throughput 
end of the market. Increasing numbers of publications 
and talks indicate expanding uses for their disruptive 
sequencing technology including the introduction 
of a new direct RNA sequencing method. This does 
not require reverse transcription or amplification 
and delivers full-length RNA transcripts; both highly 
compelling properties. It is estimated that about 
half the $3 billion research sequencing market is 
composed of RNA analysis.

As well as being used in scientific research, progress 
is being made towards ‘applied’ markets such as 
diagnostics, agriculture, food safety, water testing, 
biologics production and education. For example, 
reports emerged of a major international food 
company developing nanopore technology for 
food safety, a study to evaluate the MinION in rapid 
identification of hospital acquired pneumonia, 
work on rapid diagnosis of TB and other infectious 
diseases, and pilot projects to identify plant 
pathogens, rapidly, in rural areas.

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While Oxford Nanopore is private and does not report 
its financial results, the CEO remarked in a recent 
interview that the company anticipates 300% year 
on year growth of its order book. We look forward to 
updates, in particular noting:

 y the company’s anticipated growth in China: having 

launched its technology there in late 2017 the 
company has noted rapid growth in custom in 
China

 y further rollout of GridION and nanopore service 
providers, who are expected to open up the 
market to more customers, more quickly

 y the emergence of more PromethION news from 
customer laboratories. Instruments are already 
placed with numerous labs and the company has 
noted that it is now shipping early Flow Cells to 
participants in its early access programme

 y with GridION and PromethION, further emergence 
of much larger datasets, for example in ‘big game’ 
projects in human genetics, cancer research and 
plant genetics.

In 2018, Oxford Nanopore announced its pathway to 
a sub $1000 genome, unveiled the Flongle, which will 
offer smaller, single-use consumables for rapid-result

tests in the lab or in the field, and also introduced 
MinIT, which eliminates the need for a dedicated 
laptop for nanopore sequencing with MinION.

Finally, the company announced it had successfully 
defended a lawsuit with PacBio. In November 2016, 
PacBio filed a Complaint with the International Trade 
Commission (“ITC”) alleging that Oxford Nanopore 
infringed two of PacBio’s patents and seeking to 
prevent Oxford Nanopore from selling its product 
in the United States. The ITC Commission has made 
a Final Determination affirming the Administrative 
Judge’s decision that Oxford Nanopore has not 
infringed PacBio’s patents and also found that there 
was no violation of 19 U.S.C. §1337 and terminated the 
ITC investigation.

Based on the significant commercial and scientific 
progress made in the year and the fact that the 
company’s previous financing round was greater 
than twelve months prior to the balance sheet date, 
the Group reviewed the value of its holding resulting 
in an increase of 12% or £27.8m as at 31 December 
2017. This validity of the valuation assessment was 
confirmed in March 2018 by the completion of the 
company’s £100m fundraising from significant new 
investors.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comPortfolio review
LIFE SCIENCES

Other significant portfolio 
company updates
The largest gain for the Group came from the 
deconsolidation of Istesso Limited (formerly 
Modern Biosciences plc) and its recognition as a 
portfolio company, which resulted in a £45.1m profit 
on deconsolidation. Istesso, now the third largest 
company in the portfolio, also made considerable 
progress in 2017 with its lead product, MBS2320, 
moving into Phase 2a studies in rheumatoid arthritis, 
while demonstrating good safety and tolerability in 
Phase 1. In addition, changes in biomarkers of disease 
observed in a small patient cohort in the Phase 1 
were observed that were consistent with the drug’s 
mechanism-of-action.

Another significant gain of £9.4m came from Diurnal 
Group plc, one of the Group’s most advanced biotech 
assets. Diurnal has two products in Phase 3 studies, 
Infacort and Chronocort, for the treatment of the 
childhood and adult forms of adrenal insufficiency 
respectively. During 2017, the company took significant 
steps towards the eventual market launch of both 
these Phase 3 products. These include the signing 
of a marketing and distribution agreement for both 
products in Israel with Israel’s leading commercial 
group for niche healthcare products, the launch of a 
European patient access programme for Infacort in 
collaboration with Clinigen Group plc, and the dosing 
of a food-effect study for Infacort as the first step in its 
Phase 3 registration programme in the US.

In December, Diurnal announced that the Committee 
for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), 
an advisory committee of the European Medicine 
Agency (EMA), issued a positive opinion to the 
European Commission (EC) recommending 
Alkindi® (development programme name: Infacort®; 
hydrocortisone granules in capsules for opening) 
as replacement therapy for paediatric adrenal 
insufficiency (AI). In February 2018, Diurnal was 
granted a paediatric use marketing authorisation 
(PUMA) from the EC and anticipates first launch of 
Akindi (R) is anticipated in Q2 2018.

Among the larger assets, it was encouraging to note a 
positive impact from Circassia Pharmaceuticals plc, a 
Touchstone Innovations plc company, where positive 
share price performance led to a £4.2m gain. Another 
company from the Touchstone stable, Autifony 
Therapeutics Ltd also signed a €627.5m collaboration 
agreement in December with Boehringer Ingelheim 
about certain aspects of its voltage gated potassium 

channel modulator platform. Autifony, a UK-based 
biotechnology company formed in 2011 as a spin-
out from GSK with investment from Touchstone 
Innovations plc, is focused on the development of 
high value, novel medicines to treat serious diseases 
of the central nervous system. Boehringer Ingelheim 
now has an exclusive option to purchase Autifony’s 
Kv3.1/3.2 positive modulator platform. Included in the 
agreement is the lead compound AUT00206, a novel, 
orally active small molecule that is currently being 
evaluated in two Phase Ib studies, including one in 
patients with schizophrenia. PsiOxus Therapeutics, 
also from the Touchstone stable, announced in 
December that the Clinical Trial Application for NG-
348, an “armed” oncolytic virus for the treatment of 
solid tumours, was approved and, per the licensing 
agreement between the parties, Bristol-Myers Squibb 
will make a US $15m milestone payment to PsiOxus. 
Under the terms of the December 2016 agreement, 
Bristol-Myers Squibb granted PsiOxus an upfront 
payment of $50m. In aggregate, PsiOxus is eligible 
to receive development, regulatory and sales-based 
milestones of $936m, as well as royalties on net sales.

Creavo Medical Technologies Limited provided a 
£5.3m fair value gain following a £13.7m fundraising 
in the first half of 2017. The Company is developing 
and undertaking clinical trials on a 2017 FDA 510(k) 
approved device for diagnosing heart attacks which, 
if the clinical trials it is undertaking, prove successful 
envisages could save the NHS £200m per year.

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in 2016 to exploit advances in microbiome science 
at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge, made great 
progress during 2017, building out its team, as well 
as replicating and expanding the scientific platform 
licensed from the Sanger.

In healthcare, the Group participated in equity co-
investments in Oxford Drug Design Limited; which is 
using AI technologies to identify novel gram-negative 
antibiotics, Oxehealth Limited, which has deployed 
its technology with a number of NHS Trusts to 
improve UK patient care particularly in the complex 
mental health arena, and Alesi Surgical Limited, 
which secured FDA 510k approval for its device to 
clear smoke in laproscopic surgery procedures and 
is now accelerating commercial activities. There 
was also significant technical progress at OxSyBio 
Limited while Oxford based Genomics plc announced 
that it had entered into a strategically important 
collaborative deal with Biogen, Inc., the U.S.-based 
biotech, to work on multiple sclerosis (MS). Also 
over the summer Medaphor Group plc completed 
its acquisition of Healthcare AI specialist Intelligent 
Ultrasound Limited, concurrent with a £5.5m placing 
while Cronin Group plc, which is commercialising 
a platform to digitize chemistry announced it 
had acquired revenue-generating OpenIOLabs, a 
Cambridge-based specialist in developing hardware 
and software for scientific and industrial uses. As 
part of the acquisition, serial entrepreneur David 
Cleevely, a founder of Abcam plc and Chairman of the 
Raspberry Pi Foundation, joined the Board. Working 
with the New Business and Partnerships team, the 
team also completed or approved five new grub 
and seed investments, continuing to ensure a steady 
pipeline of high-growth opportunities as we head into 
2018 and beyond.

Turning to more challenging matters, weak share 
price performance from hVIVO plc translated to a 
£15m fair value reduction for the Group. Addressing 
disappointment in clinical results earlier in the year, 
Dr Trevor Phillips was appointed to the post of 
Executive Chairman. Dr Phillips, who will work closely 
with Chief Executive Kym Denny to refine and focus 
hVIVO’s strategy, has over thirty years’ experience 
in the pharmaceutical industry and has a proven 
track record in corporate development. He was 
previously Chief Operations Officer and President 
of US Operations, as well as a member of the Board, 
at Vectura Group plc. On the back of this we look 
forward to developments in 2018.

The Group’s second largest fair value reduction 
of £11.8m came from Tissue Regenix Group plc. In 
2017, Tissue Regenix completed the acquisition 
of revenue-generating and profitable CellRight 
Technologies, LLC, a US regenerative medicine 
business based in San Antonio, Texas, concurrent with 
a £40m fundraising. The acquisition, which helps to 
position the business as a leading commercial stage 
regenerative medicine company was considered 
cautiously by the market, perhaps following the 
departure of Chief Executive Antony Odell and the 
company’s Chief Financial Officer in the latter part of 
the year. Nevertheless, the new Chief Executive  
Steve Couldwell takes on the role with highly relevant 
experience, overseeing the integration of Cellright 
Technologies and prioritising sales and R&D. Most 
recently Mr Couldwell was Chief Operating Officer 
of Global Sanofi Biosurgery. Prior to this, he held 
several roles at Smith & Nephew including President, 
Orthopaedics, Europe and Senior VP  
Sales and Marketing of the Advanced Wound 
Management business.

Other positive developments in therapeutics included:

Avacta Group plc continues to advance the reagents 
and therapeutics side of its Affimers business, 
demonstrating low immunogenicity in an ex-vivo 
study versus a reference monoclonal antibody and 
signing several reagents/diagnostics deals with major 
biotechnology/ diagnostic players. In the unquoted 
portfolio, Karus Therapeutics Limited is now in Phase 
1 trials for both of its lead cancer programmes. 
Glythera Limited continued to demonstrate the 
advantages of its Antibody Drug Conjugate 
technology and began the build-out of its executive 
and non-executive team. Finally, the division’s newest 
company, Microbiotica Limited, which was founded 

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comPortfolio review
TECHNOLOGY

Substantial fundraisings completed  
across the portfolio in 2017 alongside 
high-quality institutional investors 
MARK REILLY MANAGING PARTNER, TECHNOLOGY

Review of the year
Technology
Several of the top Technology portfolio assets 
completed substantial fundraisings during 2017, each 
involving high-quality new institutional shareholders. 
In October, Featurespace Ltd, a Touchstone 
Innovations plc company and specialist in machine-
learning and fraud prevention, completed a £16.5m 
funding round, led by Highland Europe and supported 
by Worldpay Group plc and Invoke Capital. The 
funding will enable Featurespace to drive revenues 
from its product platform and continue to expand 
internationally. Featurespace was recently featured in 
the Deloitte UK Fast 50, a ranking of the UK’s fastest 
growing technology companies.

February saw Actual Experience plc announce that it 
had raised £17.5m before expenses to support channel 
partners deploying the company’s technology into a 
global enterprise customer base. The company has 
now received its first production order from a channel 
partner for a major end-customer, and expects further 
orders to follow shortly.

Mid-air haptics pioneer Ultrahaptics hit a key 
commercial milestone during 2017, securing its first 
product royalty income. The company announced 
a series B round of £17.9m in early-May to support 
global expansion and entry into the virtual and 
augmented reality markets. IP Group participated 
in the round alongside new investors including 
Ultrahaptics’ distribution partner Cornes and Dolby 
Family Ventures. 

IP Group’s Technology portfolio 
comprises 82 companies worth 
£334.0m as at December 31 2017.  
This includes an additional 22 
companies, valued at £115.2m  
following the acquisition of  
Touchstone Innovations plc.

Late in the year came the listing of Mirriad 
Advertising plc on AIM with the company raising 
gross proceeds of £26.2m. The video advertising 
company made encouraging commercial progress 
during the year, exemplified by the announcement of 
a major customer deal secured via partner Alibaba/
YouKu in China. 

Elsewhere in the portfolio, SAM Labs, a Touchstone 
Innovations plc company, announced the completion 
of a $6.75m Series A round of financing led by 
Touchstone Innovations and E15 Ventures to develop 
a number of new educational products that support 
its mission to inspire every student to discover the 
fun in coding and creating. Positive news came also 
from Itaconix plc (formerly Revolymer plc) and 
Getech Group plc where new customer contracts 
were announced, whilst there was also encouraging 
commercial progress at Perpetuum Limited as the 
company continues to deploy its train monitoring 
technology to rail operators around the world, and 
at Anacail Limited, whose technology is gaining 
increasing traction with large food-producing 
companies. The falling share price of Applied 
Graphene Materials plc led to a £3.8m fall in the 
value of the Group’s holding, which was the largest 
contributor to offsetting gains made elsewhere in the 
portfolio during the year but there is an opportunity 
for value recovery if the company can deliver 
commercial progress following its £9.0m placing 
completed in October. 

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Cleantech
In our Cleantech portfolio we focus on building 
outstanding, science-based businesses that 
mitigate the impacts of climate change and other 
environmental challenges. 2017 has been the most 
successful year for Cleantech at IP Group, with 
the portfolio achieving a fair value gain of £15.1m 
on a starting asset base of £74.4m. This reflects 
strong commercial progress by our companies 
and continued improvement in investment market 
sentiment and political support.

AIM-listed Ceres Power Holdings plc made excellent 
commercial progress in the year, resulting in a positive 
movement in Ceres’ share price, which translated to 
a £13.5m gain for the Group. The company’s annual 
results, announced in October, showed revenue 
increase “ahead of expectations” up 140% from last 
year to £4.1m (2016: £1.7m) while in September, Ceres 
announced the successful conclusion of a one-year 
field trial in homes in the UK. The results showed that 
the Ceres SteelCell® technology is reliable and can 
reduce household energy costs by £400 and carbon 
emissions by up to 2 tonnes per year. Finally, the 
company announced that it has secured its fifth OEM 
partner in a pre-close trading update in December.

Xeros Technology Group plc continued to develop 
additional applications for its polymer fabric 
processing technology and launched a new business 
model for its lead market of commercial laundry. First 
Light Fusion Ltd, the Oxford spin-out developing 
novel implosion processes that can achieve the high 
temperatures and compression necessary for fusion, 
also made notable progress. The company achieved 
its interim technology milestones set in the £22.7m 
August 2015 funding round three months ahead of 
schedule, triggering the second tranche of funding 
of just under £9m. It also recruited the former UK 
Government Chief Scientist, Professor Sir David King, 
to its advisory board. In November, Oxford Sciences 
Innovation plc acquired a stake in the company in a 
secondary transaction. 

Azuri Technologies Ltd had another good year, 
launching a programme to deliver 20,000 PayGo 
solar home systems in Nigeria in January. Azuri 
has secured strong backing from the Nigerian 
government for its plans, and its programme in the 
country was announced by the Acting President, HE 
Professor Yemi Osinbajo. The company followed this 
up by securing a $5m debt facility from Standard 
Chartered in February and in March hit the milestone 
of 100,000 unit sales, achieved across 12 countries. 
This progress has helped Azuri dramatically increase 
its turnover, up from $2.5m in calendar 2016 to $8.7m 
in 2017.

Elsewhere, despite some good engineering progress 
at Magnomatics Ltd, the company has struggled 
commercially. We have therefore written down the 
value of this asset by approximately £2m. Since the 
year-end, the Group has also exited its position in 
AIM-quoted Ilika plc. Founded in 2004 to develop 
high-throughput materials discovery technology, the 
company has more recently focussed on developing 
solid-state battery technology.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comPortfolio review CONTINUED

Multi-Sector Platforms
The Group has maintained its strategic stakes in 
its three multi-sector platform companies, Oxford 
Sciences Innovation plc (OSI), Cambridge Innovation 
Capital plc (CIC) and Frontier IP Group plc. The value 
of the Group’s holdings in these companies remains 
largely unchanged during 2017, aside from a £0.4m 
gain in the Group’s holding in AIM-listed Frontier IP 
Group plc as a result of an increase in its share price.

As a result of its 15-year framework agreement 
with the University of Oxford, OSI is the preferred 
intellectual property partner for the provision of 
capital to, and development of, Oxford spin-out 
companies and is entitled to 50 per cent of the 
university’s founder equity in spin-out companies. OSI 
has raised in excess of £580m to date, and 2017 was 
another good year for OSI as the portfolio continued 
to develop with a further 20 companies being added 
to the portfolio at seed stage and the completion 
of the first Series A investments. The number of 
investments now stands at 47 with a total portfolio 
value of £126m. Net Asset Value per share has 
increased from 107.6p to 111.2p. The most significant 
Series A investments were those of $17m in Diffblue 
and £20m in Vaccitech. These investments were also 
pleasing as they attracted funds and world class 

companies who had not previously invested in Oxford 
including Goldman Sachs, Google Ventures and just 
post year-end, Sequoia China. 

The quality and volume of the deal flow is a result 
of applying OSI’s capital and expertise to the world 
leading science being conducted at the University. 
With over 12,000 academics and more than £480m 
being spent annually on research, it is unlikely that 
the deal flow will reduce in the foreseeable future. 
The quality of research has also been endorsed by 
the Times Higher Education supplement, which 
has awarded Oxford the accolade of best research 
University in the world for the second year running.

Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) is a preferred 
investor for the University of Cambridge for the 
commercialisation of intellectual property created 
at the University under a 10-year memorandum of 
understanding and a Cambridge-based investor 
in technology and healthcare companies from the 
Cambridge Cluster. CIC has raised £125.0m to date. 
In July, CIC announced that it had committed a total 
of £40.0m (2016: £19.0m) into seven new and nine 
existing portfolio companies in the year ending March 
2017. By the end of 2017, CIC had invested £77.2m 
since inception, in 23 companies.

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Portfolio additions resulting from 
the Touchstone combination
Below is a high-level introduction to some of the 
investments that IP Group has gained exposure to 
following the combination.

PsiOxus Therapeutics Limited is an Oxford-based 
immune-oncology company which has developed 
a patented platform for the systemic delivery of 
tumour targeted oncolytic immune therapeutics. 
The company was founded in 2010 in its present 
form, having been created by the merger of Imperial 
College London spin-out Myotec Therapeutics 
with Oxford spin-out Hybrid BioSystems. PsiOxus’ 
Tumour-Specific Immuno-Gene (T-SIGn) therapy 
platform is based on the company’s oncolytic virus, 
enadenotucirev, which has unique properties that 
allow it to be delivered systemically via intravenous 
administration and to replicate only in tumour 
cells. The virus’s anti-cancer capability can be 
further enhanced through ‘arming’ – a process that 
involves the addition of new genes to the virus. The 
armed T-SIGn platform makes possible creation of 
a broad range of systemically delivered oncolytic 
immune therapeutics, including oncolytic viruses 
that express one or more antibodies, cytokines, 
immunomodulatory proteins, and nucleotide (RNA)-
based payloads. In December 2017 the company 
received a $15m milestone payment pursuant to 
its licensing agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb, 
following the announcement that the Clinical  
Trial Application for NG-348, an “armed” oncolytic 
virus for the treatment of solid tumours, had  
been approved.

Cell Medica Limited develops, manufactures and 
markets personalised cellular immunotherapeutics 
for cancer and infectious diseases. It is committed 
to improving patients’ lives through the significant 
therapeutic potential of cellular immunotherapy. Its 

approach is to apply innovative technologies with 
the aim of improving the treatment of cancer and 
immune reconstitution following hematopoietic 
stem cell transplant. In December 2017 Cell Medica 
announced the appointment of industry leader 
Dr. Annalisa Jenkins as Chair of the Board of 
Directors. Dr. Annalisa Jenkins is a life sciences 
business and thought leader with over 25 years of 
biopharmaceutical industry experience in advancing 
programs from scientific research through clinical 
development, regulatory approval and into healthcare 
systems globally. In March 2017 the company raised 
£60m in a funding round, with £13.7m committed 
by Touchstone Innovations, alongside co-investors 
Invesco Asset Management and Woodford 
Investment Management.

Circassia Pharmaceuticals plc is a world-class 
specialty pharmaceutical business focused on 
respiratory disease. It has a growing commercial 
organisation to promote its innovative asthma 
management products directly to specialist 
physicians. It markets the COPD product Tudorza® 
in the US and has a pipeline of asthma and COPD 
treatments in development. In February 2018 it 
received a multi-year Innovative Technology contract 
for its NIOX VERO® asthma management products 
from Vizient, Inc., the largest member-owned health 
care company in the United States. Circassia’s NIOX 
VERO® range is used to assist asthma diagnosis 
and management and is based on the discovery 
that patients with Th2 or type 2 driven airway 
inflammation, the major underlying cause of asthma, 
generally have higher than normal levels of nitric 
oxide in their exhaled breath. By measuring the 
concentration of this fractional exhaled nitric oxide 
(FeNO), NIOX® enables clinicians to evaluate airway 
inflammation in patients with underlying asthma, 
aiding diagnosis and helping guide treatment and 
reduce exacerbations.

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Autifony Therapeutics Limited is a company focused 
on the development of high value, novel medicines to 
treat serious diseases of the central nervous system. 
The company was founded in 2011 as a spin-out from 
GlaxoSmithKline by Charles Large and Giuseppe 
Alvaro, previously Directors in GSK’s Neuroscience 
Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery. Autifony 
is backed by Touchstone Innovations, SV Life 
Sciences, Pfizer Venture Investments, International 
Biotechnology Trust PLC and UCL Business. In 
December 2017 the company signed a EUR627.5m 
agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim about certain 
aspects of Autifony’s voltage gated potassium 
channel modulator platform.

Featurespace Limited is an Adaptive Behavioural 
Analytics company which has developed a machine 
learning software platform, the behaviour analytics 
engine (ARIC) that enables the identification of 
abnormal behaviour in high-volume real-time 
applications such as online betting and credit card 
transactions. Featurespace’s software, which is based 
on Bayesian statistics and research undertaken at 
the University of Cambridge, delivers significant 
economic benefits to customers by providing a 
granular view of transactions which allows them to 
predict likely fraud and take appropriate action. For 
example, for a UK credit card company it reduced 
fraud loss by 40% and cut the ratio of false positives

to genuine rejections from 23:1 to 6:1. The company 
raised £16.5m in a funding round during October 2017, 
led by investor Highland Europe and supported by 
Worldpay Group plc and Invoke Capital.

Mission Therapeutics Limited was founded in 2011 
to commercialise expert research into the ubiquitin 
pathway for the treatment of cancers and non-
malignant disease. It has built a world-leading 
platform for the discovery and development of first-
in-class, small molecule drugs that selectively target 
deubiquitinating enzymes (‘DUBs’) – an emerging, 
and hitherto intractable drug class that is attracting 
significant commercial interest as the potential ‘next 
kinase area’. DUBs are involved in multiple cellular 
processes, including DNA damage response and cell 
proliferation. The inhibition of these enzymes has 
considerable potential for the generation of novel 
drugs for treating cancer and other unmet medical 
needs. The company presented two posters with new 
research and preclinical data from its USP30 inhibitor 
Parkinson’s disease programmes at Neuroscience 
2017. USP30 is a mitochondrial-associated DUB that 
has emerged as a promising new target in Parkinson’s 
disease, and has been implicated in the control  
of mitophagy, a cellular mitochondrial quality  
control mechanism.

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Ieso Digital Health Limited is a company providing 
online cognitive behavioural therapy, and is 
transforming the accessibility, affordability and 
accountability of mental health treatment. Discreet 
1-to-1 therapy is delivered in real time using written 
conversation, with patients meeting an accredited 
therapist in a secure virtual therapy room, at a 
time and location that is both convenient and 
comfortable for them. The use of technology and 
written conversation offers greater patient choice, 
more widespread access to effective, evidence-
based therapy and a freedom for patients to express 
themselves by communicating online. Ieso is also 
treating patients in the US via a partnership with 
Beacon Health Options, the largest behavioural health 
managed care organisation in the USA and covers 
45 million lives. In December 2017, Ieso Digital Health 
was named as one of the top ten ‘disruptors’ in the 
‘Sunday Times Virgin Media Business Disruptors to 
Watch 10, powered by Fast Track’. The company has 
been recognised for its outstanding business model 
and cutting-edge technology, which is helping people 
with anxiety, depression and other common mental 
health problems to get better faster.

Veryan Medical Limited is a medical technology 
company that has developed and patented a 
three-dimensional stent, BioMimics 3DTM, for use 
in peripheral (leg) arteries. The shape of the stent 
improved its biomechanical performance and blood 

flow in the vessel, with a demonstrated benefit 
on clinical outcomes in peripheral arterial disease. 
Existing stents indicated for placement in leg arteries 
have a straight tubular design that tends to straighten 
any curvature present in vessels. This straightening 
effect may interfere with normal shortening of the 
femoropopliteal artery during lower limb movement, 
such as when the knee is bent. However, Veryan’s 
BioMimics 3D™ stent technology involves adapting 
traditional straight stent designs to a patented three-
dimensional helical shape, which more closely mimics 
the natural geometry of the human vascular system. 
In February 2018 the company announced it had 
submitted a Premarket Approval (PMA) application 
for the BioMimics 3D Vascular Stent System to the 
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following 
the achievement of a successful outcome to its 
pivotal 271-subject MIMICS-2 study in January 2018. 

TopiVert Pharma Limited is a clinical-stage 
biotechnology company developing narrow 
spectrum kinase inhibitors (NSKIs) as novel, locally-
acting medicines for the local treatment of chronic 
inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract 
and eye. TopiVert’s most advanced drug candidate, 
TOP1288 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, has 
successfully completed Phase I development, and  
in January 2018 it announced positive results from  
the study.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

39

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comFinancial review

A strong balance sheet position: £326.3m 
of gross cash and a diversified portfolio of 
investments worth £1,130.6m 
GREG SMITH CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Statement of comprehensive income
Overall the Group recorded a profit for the year of £53.4m (2016: loss of £14.8m) and a Return on Hard NAV, i.e. 
on the Group’s net assets excluding goodwill and intangible assets, of £64.1m (2016: negative £7.6m). 

A summary analysis of the Group’s financial performance is provided below:

Net portfolio gains (1)

Change in fair value of limited and limited liability partnership interests

Fair value loss on contingent value rights

Licensing income

Other income

Carried interest plan charge

Amortisation of intangible assets 

Administrative expenses – Istesso group 

Administrative expenses – other consolidated portfolio companies

Administrative expenses – performance-based staff incentives and share based 
payments charge

Administrative expenses – all other central expenses

IFRS3 charge in respect of acquisition of subsidiary

Acquisition and restructuring costs

Net finance income

Profit/(loss) for the year

Other comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the year

Exclude:

Amortisation of intangible assets

Share based payment charge

IFRS charge in respect of acquisition of subsidiary

Return on Hard NAV

Exclude:

Acquisition and restructuring costs

Return on Hard NAV excluding acquisition and restructuring costs

(1)  Defined in Note 28 Alternative Performance Measures 

40

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

2017
 £m

94.2

(0.2)

—

3.4

6.1

(1.3)

(3.9)

(3.5)

(2.1)

(4.9)

(21.2)

(4.4)

(9.1)

0.3

53.4

—

53.4

3.9

2.4

4.4

64.1

9.1

73.2

2016
£m

6.5

(0.3)

(1.4)

0.2

2.6

—

(5.6)

(1.4)

(1.1)

(1.5)

(13.0)

—

(0.4)

0.6

(14.8)

0.1

(14.7)

5.6

1.5

—

(7.6)

0.4

(7.2)

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our performance

Net portfolio gains consist of realised and unrealised 
fair value gains and losses from the Group’s equity 
and debt holdings in portfolio companies and 
deconsolidated subsidiaries. A detailed analysis of 
fair value gains and losses is provided in the Portfolio 
review on pages 23 to 39.

Other income comprises fund management fees, 
corporate finance fee income and other fees typically 
chargeable to the Group’s portfolio companies for 
services including executive search and selection, 
legal and administrative support. Other income 
for the year increased to £6.1m (2016: £2.6m). 
The increase was largely due to the acquisition of 
Parkwalk Advisors in January and the resultant fund 
management related fees and commissions (£3.2m) 
which were consolidated into the Group’s results for 
the first time. 

In addition to Parkwalk Advisors, fund management 
fees are also received from the Group’s existing 
three managed funds, two of which, IP Venture 
Fund (“IPVF”) and The North East Technology Fund 
LP (“NETF”), also have the potential to generate 
performance fees from successful investment 
performance. The results of the Group’s third 
managed fund, IPVFII, are consolidated into those 
of the Group and accordingly the fund management 
fees received are not reflected in the statement of 
comprehensive income. 

As described in the portfolio review, the Group’s drug 
development subsidiary, Istesso Limited (formerly 
Modern Biosciences plc) was deconsolidated from 
the Group after a share and board re-organisation 
which resulted in the Group no longer holding a 
controlling interest in the company. The consolidated 
results show the licencing income received (£3.4m) 
and the expenses incurred (£3.5m) by Istesso before 
the re-organisation occurred and a gain of £45.1m to 
the Group on deconsolidation, representing Istesso 
Limited’s cumulative losses since inception and 
the fair value ascribed to the business, which was 
calculated based on it.

Included within the Group’s administrative expenses 
are costs in respect of a small number of other 
portfolio companies. Typically, the Group owns a  
non-controlling interest in its portfolio companies 
however, in certain circumstances the Group will 
take a controlling stake and hence consolidate the 
results of a portfolio company into the Group’s 
financial statements. The administrative expenses 
included in the Group’s results for such companies 
primarily comprise staff costs, R&D and other 
operating expenses.

Total Equity (“Net Assets”)
(£m)

1508.5

781.9

768.7

526.2

336.6

£1,508.5m

(2016: £768.7m)

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Profit/(loss) attributable to  
equity holders
(£m)

73.0

73.9

49.7

£49.7m

(2016: £(13.5)m)

9.1

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

(13.5)

Cash, cash equivalents 
and deposits
(£m)

326.3

178.8

97.3

112.3

24.1

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

£326.3m

(2016: £112.3m)

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

41

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comFinancial review CONTINUED

Other central administrative expenses, have increased 
to £21.2m during the period (2016: £13.0m). This 
increase was primarily due to an increase in staffing 
costs, the result of Parkwalk Advisors (£1.4m) and 
Touchstone Innovations (£3.7m) being consolidated 
for the first time.

Administrative expenses resulting from performance-
based staff incentives and share-based payment 
charges increased to £4.9m during the period (2016: 
£1.5m), as the Group’s return on Hard NAV during 
the period exceeded the minimum threshold for 
payments to be awarded under the Group’s Annual 
Incentive Scheme. This expense is inclusive of a non-
cash IFRS 2 share-based payments charge totalling 
£2.4m (2016: £1.5m) and the cost of the Group’s 2017 
Long Term Incentive Plan and Deferred Bonus Share 
Plan awards. This non-cash charge reflects the fair 
value of services received from employees, measured 
by reference to the fair value of the share-based 
payments at the date of award, but has no net impact 
on the Group’s total equity or “net assets”.

Additional costs of £4.4m were incurred in relation to 
the deferred and contingent consideration paid to the 
sellers of Parkwalk Advisors in the year deemed under 
IFRS3 to be a payment for post-acquisition services.

The Group’s carried interest plan recognised a charge 
of £1.3m in its first year of operation as a result of a 
net increase in the value of those companies included 
within one or more of the Group’s carry vintages 
that is in excess of the hurdle return. There is no cash 
payment due to members of the scheme until the 
Group has made sufficient cash realisations. 

This year’s results include one-off costs relating to the 
acquisition of Touchstone Innovations of £9.1m, £6.2m 
of which was for the provision of legal, corporate 
broker and other professional advice in relation to 
the transaction, and £2.9m of restructuring costs 
including redundancy and onerous lease provisions 
and accelerated depreciation on the fixed assets 
within Touchstone’s central London office. In excess 
of £4.0m of annual synergy cost savings have been 
identified across the enlarged Group going forward. 

Statement of financial position
The Group ended the period with net assets of 
£1,508.5m, representing an increase of £739.8m 
from the position at 1 January 2017 (£768.7m). As 
described above, this increase in net assets was 
largely as a result of the £53.4m profit in the year, 
the successful equity placing and the acquisition of 
Touchstone Innovations. “Hard” net assets, i.e. those 
excluding goodwill and other intangible assets, 

totalled £1,326.2m at 31 December 2017 (2016: 
£706.5m). Based on the Group’s 1,057,383,601 shares 
in issue at 31 December 2017, this represents 125.4p 
per share (2016: 565,221,967 shares; 125.0p).

Total Equity or Net Assets

1,508.5

2017
 £m

2016
£m

768.7

Exclude:

Goodwill

Other intangible assets

Hard NAV

Hard NAV per share

(172.1)

(10.2)

1,326.2

125.4p

(57.1)

(5.1)

706.5

125.0p

At 31 December 2017, the Group held gross cash and 
deposits of £326.3m (2016: £112.3m) and a diversified 
portfolio of equity and debt investments in 155 private 
and publicly listed technology companies (2016: 90). 

The value of the Group’s holdings in portfolio 
companies increased to £1,130.6m at year end (2016: 
£614.0m) after net portfolio gains of £94.2m (2016: 
£6.5m), net investment of £64.6m (2016: £55.0m) and 
the acquisition of the Touchstone portfolio (£352.2m). 
The Portfolio review on pages 23 to 39 contains a 
detailed description of the Group’s portfolio of equity 
and debt investments including key developments 
and movements during the year. 

The Group’s statement of financial position includes 
goodwill of £172.1m (2016: £57.1m) and acquired 
intangible assets of £10.2m (2016: £5.1m). The 
increase since the prior year is largely attributable to 
the Group’s combination with Touchstone Innovations 
in October where £108.5m of goodwill and £6.9m 
of acquired intangible assets were recognised, the 
goodwill (£5.7m) and intangibles (£2.1m) recognised 
on the acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors in January 
and goodwill (£0.8m) recognised on purchase of a 
3rd party’s minority holding in subsidiary MobilION 
Inc. £38.7m of the goodwill and the majority of the 
remaining acquired intangible asset value arose as 
a result of the Group’s acquisition of Fusion IP in 
2014. The remainder of the goodwill balance arose 
from historical acquisitions of IP Assist Services 
Limited (formerly known as Techtran Group Limited 
(university partnership business, £16.3m; 2016: 
£16.3m)) and Top Technology Ventures Limited 
(venture capital fund management business, £2.1m; 
2016: £2.1m). Goodwill is tested at least annually for 
impairment, as described in note 12. The intangible 
assets are separately identifiable assets resulting from 
Fusion IP’s agreements with its partner universities.

42

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our performance

The fair value of the intangible assets is amortised 
on a straight-line basis over each partnership’s useful 
economic life.

All-share acquisition of Touchstone 
Innovations plc
As described above, on 17 October 2017 the Group 
acquired control of 100% of the ordinary shares in 
Touchstone Innovations in exchange for 357,518,520 
new ordinary shares in IP Group plc. A summary of 
the assets acquired, and consideration is as follows:

Net assets acquired

Investment portfolio

Cash and cash equivalents

Other net current assets

Non-current liabilities (predominantly 
EIB debt finance) 

Acquired intangible assets

Net assets

Goodwill

Total consideration (being 357,518,520 
IP Group shares at 140p per share)

Fair value 
net assets/
(liabilities)
£m

352.2

119.1

2.1

(88.3)

6.9

392.0

108.5

500.5

The fair values of the companies within Touchstone’s 
investment portfolio at the acquisition date have 
been determined using the Group’s accounting and 
valuation policies. In several cases, these values 
differed from those within Touchstone’s audited 
financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2017, 

which valued their investment portfolio at £461.1m. 
Such differences primarily related to combinations 
of the following factors: (i) differing views on the 
appropriate valuation based on the commercial 
and technical progress of a company; (ii) clinical 
stage set-backs and, in a limited number of cases; 
(iii) technical/scientific failure. A number of these 
differences were anticipated based on our due 
diligence and this was an important factor taken 
into account by the Directors in determining the 
appropriate level of consideration to offer for the 
business. If subsequent information comes to 
light in respect of a particular portfolio company 
within twelve months of the acquisition date that 
is indicative of conditions that existed at that time, 
the directors will review and, if necessary, adjust the 
acquisition valuations.

Goodwill has been recognised as the difference 
between the net assets acquired and the 
consideration paid, in the form of newly issued IP 
Group shares, and relates to the value attributable to 
Touchstone’s access to early stage commercialisation 
activities with top tier UK universities and the benefits 
from increased scale and critical mass, and a more 
diverse portfolio the Group expects to benefit from. 

UCL Technology Fund and  
Apollo Therapeutics
In addition to investments into its core portfolio, 
Touchstone has committed £24.8m towards the 
UCL Technology Fund LP and £3.3m towards Apollo 
Therapeutics LLP. The actual cash will be invested 
over a number of years. 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

43

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comFinancial review CONTINUED

Cash, cash equivalents and  
short-term deposits (“Cash”)
The principal constituents of the movement in Cash 
during the year are summarised as follows:

Net Cash generated/(used) by 
operating activities (excluding 
cash flows from deposits)

Net Cash generated/(used) in 
investing activities

Cash acquired on acquisition of 
subsidiary undertakings

Issue of share capital

Drawdown of debt facility

Effect of foreign exchange rate 
changes

Movement during period

2017
 £m

2016
£m

(22.4)

(11.4)

(67.6)

(55.2)

107.8

181.0

15.0

0.2

214.0

—

—

—

0.1

(66.5)

At 31 December 2017, the Group’s Cash totalled 
£326.3m, an increase of £214.0m from a total of 
£112.3m at 31 December 2016 predominantly due 
to net placing proceeds of £181.0m, the business 
combinations with Touchstone and Parkwalk Advisors 
which included £119.1m and £2.1m in cash respectively 
at the acquisition date, offset by net investment in the 
Group’s spin-out companies and operating expenses.

Cash generated in operations has decreased from 
the comparable period in 2016, most significantly due 
to the receipt of £3.0m of payments under MBS’s 
agreement with Janssen Biotech in 2017 and an 
increase in revenue from services and other income 
in the year predominantly due to the acquisition of 
Parkwalk Advisors Ltd which contributed £3.2m of 
revenue in the period since acquisition.

The Group’s net cash generated in investing activities 
increased during 2017, reflecting an increase in the 

HIGHLIGHTS

The value of the Group’s holdings 
in portfolio companies increased to 
£1,130.6m at year end

Net assests have increased  
by £739.8m from the position  
at 1 January 2017

level of investment (2017: £71.2m; 2016: £69.7m), a 
decreased level of realisations after a record year 
for the group in 2016 (2017: £6.6m; 2016: £14.7m), 
an increase in spending on property, plant and 
equipment predominantly due to IP Group’s head 
office relocation in April and the cash acquired 
on acquisition of Touchstone (£119.1) and the 
deconsolidation of Istesso Limited (negative £6.1m).

In 2015, the Group secured a £30m, 8-year debt facility 
from the European Investment Bank (“the EIB”). The 
facility is to be disbursed in two tranches, with the 
first tranche of £15m having been drawn down in 
December 2015 and the second tranche was drawn in 
December 2017. The size of the facility has significantly 
increased in the year following the acquisition of 
Touchstone who had a similar facility with the EIB 
which brings the total EIB debt facility to £104.0m, 
£6.3m of which is due to be repaid within twelve 
months of the year-end. The facility provides IP Group 
with an additional source of long-term capital and 
represents an evolution in the Group’s capital structure 
to support its future growth and development.

It remains the Group’s policy to place cash that is 
surplus to near-term working capital requirements 
on short-term and overnight deposits with financial 
institutions that meet the Group’s treasury policy 
criteria or in low-risk treasury funds rated “A” or 
above. The Group’s treasury policy is described in 

44

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our performance

detail in note 2 to the Group financial statements 
alongside details of the credit ratings of the Group’s 
cash and deposit counterparties. 

At 31 December 2017, the Group had a total of £1.2m 
(2016: £1.1m) held in US Dollars and less than £0.1m 
(2016: £nil) held in AUS Dollars to meet the short-
term working capital requirements of its US and 
Australasian operations, including capital anticipated 
to be required by new and existing spin-out company 
opportunities.

At 31 December 2017, the Group recognised £13.1m 
of loans (2016: £9.8m) from the Limited Partners of 
IPVFII, a fund raised during 2013 that is consolidated 
by the Group. These loans are repayable only upon 
IPVFII generating sufficient returns to repay the 
Limited Partners.

At 31 December 2017, the Group recognised a carried 
interest plan liability of £8.8m (2016: £nil) which 
consists of a carried interest plan established in 
2017 and separately, an existing carried interest plan 
liability acquired on acquisition of Touchstone. There 
is no cash payment due to members of either scheme 
until the Group has made sufficient cash realisations.

Taxation
The Group’s business model seeks to deliver 
long-term value to its stakeholders through the 
commercialisation of fundamental research carried 
out at its partner universities. To date, this has been 
largely achieved through the formation of, and 
provision of services and development capital to, 
spin-out companies formed around the output of 
such research. The Group primarily seeks to generate 
capital gains from its holdings in spin-out companies 
over the longer-term but has historically made annual 
net operating losses from its operations from a UK 
tax perspective. Capital gains achieved by the Group 
would ordinarily be taxed upon realisation of such 
holdings, however, since the Group typically holds in 
excess of 10% in its portfolio companies and those 
companies are themselves trading, the Directors 
continue to believe that the majority of its holdings will 
qualify for the Substantial Shareholdings Exemption 
(“SSE”). This exemption provides that gains arising on 
the disposal of qualifying holdings are not chargeable 
to UK corporation tax and, as such, the Group has 
continued not to recognise a provision for deferred 
taxation in respect of uplifts in value on those equity 
holdings that meet the qualifying criteria. Gains arising 
on sales of non-qualifying holdings would ordinarily 

give rise to taxable profits for the Group, to the extent 
that these exceed the Group’s operating losses from 
time to time. The Group’s unrecognised deferred 
tax assets and liabilities are set out in note 9 to the 
financial statements. 

The Directors consider that the SSE regime has been 
simplified and enhanced during the period, with a 
number of changes being enacted in the Finance 
(No.2) Act 2017 that are effective for disposals on 
or after 1 April 2017. From the Group’s perspective 
the key changes were to remove the requirement 
for the investing entity (in this case, IP Group) to be 
a sole trading entity or member of a trading group 
and extending the minimum 10% holding period 
to any 12-month period in the six years prior to 
disposal. The Group welcomed these changes and the 
directors anticipate that they will have a favourable 
impact on the Group, giving greater certainty over 
the exemption of qualifying gains under SSE, and 
increasing the Group’s flexibility over the timing of 
future portfolio company disposals.

The changes in the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 also 
included a restriction on companies’ use of brought 
forward losses. As a result, the amount of profit that 
can be mitigated by brought forward losses will be 
restricted to 50% of the amount of profits in excess 
of £5m. The Directors do not currently consider that 
these proposed changes will result in the recognition 
of a deferred tax liability in respect of any unrealised 
gains that do not qualify for SSE, but note that such 
liabilities may arise in the future.

Assets held in Luxembourg, which were acquired 
via the combination with Touchstone in the year, are 
also subject to capital gains and ordinarily the Group 
would be taxed on their realisation. The participation 
exemption, similar to the UK SSE scheme described 
above, is available for certain share disposals. 
Dividends and gains arising to Imperial Innovations 
Sárl through its interest in Touchstone Innovations 
Businesses LLP should be exempt from tax under 
Luxembourg law provided the conditions for the 
participation exemption are met for each investment 
or each investment can be attributed to a UK 
permanent establishment. Tax residence of Imperial 
Innovations Sárl will be maintained in Luxembourg 
and no UK tax should arise on the applicable gains.

The Group complies with relevant global initiatives 
including the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act 
(FATCA) and the OECD Common Reporting Standard. 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

45

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comRisk management

Managing risk: our framework for balancing risk and reward

“A robust and effective risk management framework is essential for 
the Group to achieve its strategic objectives and to ensure that the 
directors are able to manage the business in a sustainable manner, 
which protects its employees, partners, shareholders and other 
stakeholders. Ongoing consideration of, and regular updates to,  
the policies intended to mitigate risk enable the effective balancing  
of risk and reward.”

Governance
Overall responsibility for the risk framework and 
definition of risk appetite rests with the Board, 
who through regular review of risks ensure that 
risk exposure is matched with an ability to achieve 
the Group’s strategic objectives. Risk identification 
is carried out through bottom-up process via 
operational risk registers maintained by individual 
teams, with additional top-down input from the 
management team with non-executive review being 
carried out by the audit and risk committee. 

Risk management process
Ranking of the Group’s risks is carried out 
by combining the economic, operational or 
environmental impact of risks and the likelihood 
that they may occur. Those risks that are considered 
to pose the greatest threat to the Group and score 
the highest are identified as ‘principal risks’. The 
operations of the Group, and the implementation of 
its objectives and strategy, are subject to a number of 
principal risks and uncertainties. Were more than one 
of the risks to occur together, the overall impact on 
the Group may be compounded.

The design and ongoing effectiveness of the 
key controls over the Group’s principal risks are 
documented using a ‘risk and control matrix’, which 
includes an assessment of the design and operating 
effectiveness of the controls in question. The key 
controls over the Group’s identified principal risks 
are reviewed by management, the audit and risk 
committee and the Board at least twice a year. 
However, the Group’s risk management programme 
can only provide reasonable, not absolute, assurance 
that principal risks are managed to an acceptable level.

During 2017 we have continued to build on our 
existing risk management framework, enhancing risk 
management and internal control processes. This 
activity included the development of operational 
risk registers for front line operations and central 
functions, a number of control reviews supported 
by our external risk consultants PwC, including a 
review of the US operations, an integration risk 
review and a review of the controls over our principal 
risks. We have continued to support the Executive 
Committee and Board through regular meetings of 
the Risk Council. Priorities for 2018 include amending 
our risk management framework to reflect new 
team structure post the integration of Touchstone 
Innovations plc.

46

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017IP Group risk management framework

Strategic Report Risk management

KEY

Direct Reporting

Review & Challenge

FIRST LINE  
OF DEFENCE

SECOND LINE  
OF DEFENCE

Front line ownership of 
risk process, reporting and 
effectiveness

Oversight and challenge by the 
Risk Council, Central Functions 
and Management

THIRD LINE  
OF DEFENCE

Independent assurance

IP Exec

IP Capital

IP Assist

IP Group Inc.

Board

Executive 
Management

Risk Council

Collated risk 
registers

Front Line Operations 

Central Functions

Lifesciences

Technology

HR

Finance

IT

Legal & Cosec

Audit & Risk 
Committee

Internal &  
external audit

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

I

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47

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com 
 
 
 
 
Risk management CONTINUED

Summary of principal risks and mitigants
A summary of the principal risks affecting the Group and the steps taken to manage these is set out below. 
Further discussion of the Group’s approach to principal risks and uncertainties are given on page 78 of the 
Corporate Governance Report and pages 100 to 103 of the Report of the Audit and Risk Committee, while 
further disclosure of the Group’s financial risks is set out in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements on 
pages 130 and 132.

RISK AND DESCRIPTION

IMPACT

MITIGATION

RISK TREND

DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE YEAR

STRATEGY

KPI

 y The Group completed a successful equity placing, 

raising net proceeds of £181.0m.

 y The Group completed a business combination 

with Touchstone Innovations plc; the rationale 

for this transaction includes improved access to 

capital via increased scale and critical mass.

 y The Group held ‘Deep Tech Forum’ events 

in Shenzhen and Beijing in China, bringing 

together ten of our portfolio companies and 

over 300 Chinese private equity and venture 

capital investors, corporate representatives and 

government bodies.

 y Change in fair value 

of equity and debt 

investments.

 y Total equity  

(“net assets”).

 y Profit/loss 

attributable to 

equity holders.

 y The group completed a combination with 

Touchstone Innovations plc, resulting in increased 

diversification of the Group’s portfolio.

 y The Group’s portfolio companies raised 

approximately £315m of capital.

 y The Group maintained board representation on 

approximately 70% of companies by number.

 y Change in fair value 

of equity and debt 

investments.

 y Purchase of 

equity and debt 

investments.

 y Proceeds from 

the sale of equity 

investments.

1   It may be difficult for the 
Group and its early-stage 
companies to attract capital.

The Group’s operations are reliant on 
capital markets, particularly those in 
the UK. As the Group’s operations, 
and the operations of the majority of 
its portfolio companies, are based in 
the UK, the financial and operational 
performance of the Group and 
particularly the ability of its portfolio 
companies to attract development 
capital is influenced by the general 
economic climate and trading 
conditions in the UK. 

 y The success of those portfolio 
companies which require 
significant funding in the 
future may be influenced 
by the market’s appetite for 
investment in early stage 
companies, which may not be 
sufficient.

 y Failure of companies within 
the Group’s portfolio may 
make it more difficult for 
the Group or its spin-out 
companies to raise additional 
capital.

 y The Group has significant balance sheet 
and managed funds capital to deploy in 
attractive portfolio opportunities.

 y The Group operates a corporate finance 
function which carries out fundraising 
mandates for portfolio companies. 

 y The Group maintains close relationships 
with a wide variety of co-investors that 
focus on companies at differing stages of 
development.

 y The Group frequently forecasts cash 

requirements of the portfolio and ensures 
all capital allocations are compliant with 
budgetary limits, treasury policy guidelines 
and transaction authorisation controls. 

 y The Group acquired Parkwalk Advisors Ltd 
in the year, the leading EIS fund manager in 
the UK. While Parkwalk Advisors operates 
independently they have been and continue 
to be an important co-investor of the Group 
supporting shared portfolio companies. 

2   The returns and cash 

proceeds from the Group’s 
early-stage companies can be 
very uncertain.

The following risks are typically 
associated with early-stage 
companies:

 y may not be able to secure later 

rounds of funding;

 y may not be able to source or retain 

appropriately skilled staff;

 y competing technologies may enter 

the market;

 y technology can be materially 

unproven and may fail; 

 y IP may be infringed, copied or 

stolen;

 y may be more susceptible to cyber 

crime; and

 y other administrative, taxation or 
compliance issues may lead to 
company failure.

 y Portfolio company failure 

 y The Group’s staff have significant experience 

directly impacts the Group’s 
value and profitability.

 y At any time, a large proportion 
of the Group’s portfolio value 
may be accounted for by 
one, or very few, companies, 
which could exacerbate the 
impact of any impairment 
or failure of one or more of 
these companies. Oxford 
Nanopore is an example of 
such a portfolio company that 
has the potential to materially 
impact the Group’s results. 
 y The value of the Group’s drug 
discovery and development 
portfolio companies may be 
significantly impacted by a 
negative clinical trial result.
 y Cash realisations from the 
Group’s portfolio through 
trade sales and IPOs could 
vary significantly from year 
to year.

in sourcing, developing and growing 
early-stage technology companies to 
significant value, including use of the Group’s 
systematic opportunity evaluation and 
business building methodologies within 
delegated board authorities. 

 y Members of the Group’s senior team often 

serve as non-executive directors or advisers 
to portfolio companies to help identify and 
remedy critical issues promptly.

 y Support on operational, legal and company 
secretarial matters is offered to minimise 
failures due to common administrative 
factors.

 y The Group has spin-out company holdings 

across different sectors managed by 
experienced sector-specialist teams to 
reduce the impact of a single company 
failure or sector demise.

 y The Group maintains significant cash 

balances and seeks to employ a capital 
efficient process deploying low levels of 
initial capital to enable identification and 
mitigation of potential failures at the earliest 
possible stage. 

KEY

Increase

Decrease

No change

Create

Develop

Deliver

48

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017 
Strategic Report Risk management

RISK AND DESCRIPTION

IMPACT

MITIGATION

RISK TREND

DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE YEAR

STRATEGY

KPI

 y The success of those portfolio 

 y The Group has significant balance sheet 

1   It may be difficult for the 

Group and its early-stage 

companies to attract capital.

The Group’s operations are reliant on 

capital markets, particularly those in 

the UK. As the Group’s operations, 

and the operations of the majority of 

its portfolio companies, are based in 

the UK, the financial and operational 

performance of the Group and 

particularly the ability of its portfolio 

companies to attract development 

capital is influenced by the general 

economic climate and trading 

conditions in the UK. 

companies which require 

significant funding in the 

future may be influenced 

by the market’s appetite for 

investment in early stage 

companies, which may not be 

sufficient.

 y Failure of companies within 

the Group’s portfolio may 

make it more difficult for 

the Group or its spin-out 

companies to raise additional 

capital.

and managed funds capital to deploy in 

attractive portfolio opportunities.

 y The Group operates a corporate finance 

function which carries out fundraising 

mandates for portfolio companies. 

 y The Group maintains close relationships 

with a wide variety of co-investors that 

focus on companies at differing stages of 

development.

 y The Group frequently forecasts cash 

requirements of the portfolio and ensures 

all capital allocations are compliant with 

budgetary limits, treasury policy guidelines 

and transaction authorisation controls. 

 y The Group acquired Parkwalk Advisors Ltd 

in the year, the leading EIS fund manager in 

the UK. While Parkwalk Advisors operates 

independently they have been and continue 

to be an important co-investor of the Group 

supporting shared portfolio companies. 

2   The returns and cash 

proceeds from the Group’s 

early-stage companies can be 

very uncertain.

The following risks are typically 

associated with early-stage 

companies:

 y may not be able to secure later 

rounds of funding;

 y may not be able to source or retain 

appropriately skilled staff;

 y competing technologies may enter 

the market;

 y technology can be materially 

unproven and may fail; 

 y IP may be infringed, copied or 

 y may be more susceptible to cyber 

stolen;

crime; and

 y other administrative, taxation or 

compliance issues may lead to 

company failure.

 y Portfolio company failure 

 y The Group’s staff have significant experience 

directly impacts the Group’s 

value and profitability.

in sourcing, developing and growing 

early-stage technology companies to 

 y At any time, a large proportion 

significant value, including use of the Group’s 

of the Group’s portfolio value 

may be accounted for by 

one, or very few, companies, 

which could exacerbate the 

impact of any impairment 

or failure of one or more of 

these companies. Oxford 

Nanopore is an example of 

such a portfolio company that 

has the potential to materially 

impact the Group’s results. 

systematic opportunity evaluation and 

business building methodologies within 

delegated board authorities. 

 y Members of the Group’s senior team often 

serve as non-executive directors or advisers 

to portfolio companies to help identify and 

remedy critical issues promptly.

 y Support on operational, legal and company 

secretarial matters is offered to minimise 

failures due to common administrative 

factors.

 y The value of the Group’s drug 

 y The Group has spin-out company holdings 

discovery and development 

portfolio companies may be 

significantly impacted by a 

negative clinical trial result.

 y Cash realisations from the 

Group’s portfolio through 

trade sales and IPOs could 

vary significantly from year 

to year.

across different sectors managed by 

experienced sector-specialist teams to 

reduce the impact of a single company 

failure or sector demise.

 y The Group maintains significant cash 

balances and seeks to employ a capital 

efficient process deploying low levels of 

initial capital to enable identification and 

mitigation of potential failures at the earliest 

possible stage. 

 y The Group completed a successful equity placing, 

raising net proceeds of £181.0m.

 y The Group completed a business combination 
with Touchstone Innovations plc; the rationale 
for this transaction includes improved access to 
capital via increased scale and critical mass.

 y The Group held ‘Deep Tech Forum’ events 
in Shenzhen and Beijing in China, bringing 
together ten of our portfolio companies and 
over 300 Chinese private equity and venture 
capital investors, corporate representatives and 
government bodies.

 y Change in fair value 

of equity and debt 
investments.
 y Total equity  
(“net assets”).

 y Profit/loss 

attributable to 
equity holders.

 y The group completed a combination with 

Touchstone Innovations plc, resulting in increased 
diversification of the Group’s portfolio.

 y The Group’s portfolio companies raised 

approximately £315m of capital.

 y The Group maintained board representation on 
approximately 70% of companies by number.

 y Change in fair value 

of equity and debt 
investments.
 y Purchase of 

equity and debt 
investments.
 y Proceeds from 

the sale of equity 
investments.

  SEE OUR STRATEGY 
ON PAGES 16 TO 17

  SEE OUR KPIs  
ON PAGES 18 TO 19

49

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com 
Risk management CONTINUED

RISK AND DESCRIPTION

IMPACT

MITIGATION

RISK TREND

DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE YEAR

STRATEGY

KPI

3   Universities or other 
research-intensive 
institutions may terminate 
their partnerships or other 
collaborative relationships 
with the Group.

The Group’s business, results of 
operations and prospects are at least 
partially dependent on competitive 
advantage gained from access to 
leading scientific research through 
partnerships and other collaborative 
arrangements with research-intensive 
institutions and commercial partners 
such as Oxford Sciences Innovation 
plc, Cambridge Innovation Capital 
and the UCL Technology Fund . 
University partners may terminate 
their partnerships or may move to 
non-exclusive sourcing models. 

4   The Group may lose key 

personnel or fail to attract 
and integrate new personnel.

The industry in which the Group 
operates is a specialised area and 
the Group requires highly qualified 
and experienced employees. There 
is a risk that the Group’s employees 
could be approached and solicited 
by competitors or other technology 
based companies and organisations, 
or could otherwise choose to leave the 
Group. Given the relatively small size 
of the Group, its operations are reliant 
on a small number of key individuals. 
Scaling the team, particularly into 
foreign jurisdictions such as the US, 
presents an additional potential risk.

5   Macroeconomic conditions 
may negatively impact the 
Group’s ability to achieve its 
strategic objectives. 

Adverse macroeconomic conditions 
could reduce the opportunity to 
deploy capital into opportunities or 
may limit the ability of such portfolio 
companies to raise third party funds, 
develop profitable businesses or 
achieve increases in value or exits.

Political uncertainty, including impacts 
from Brexit or similar scenarios, could 
have a number of potential impacts, 
including changes to the labour 
market available to the Group for 
recruitment or regulatory environment 
in which the Group operates.

 y Termination or non-renewal of 
arrangements through failure 
to perform obligations may 
result in the loss of exclusive 
rights. 

 y The loss of exclusive rights 

may limit the Group’s 
ability to secure attractive 
IP opportunities to 
commercialise. 

 y This could potentially have 
a material adverse effect 
on the Group’s long-term 
business, results of operations, 
performance and prospects. 
 y With several new entrants to 
our market, this may reduce 
our opportunities to create 
new spin-out businesses.

 y Dedicated New Business & Partnerships 

team to service existing partnerships and 
source new opportunities.

 y The Group continues to consider and, where 
appropriate, enter into new and innovative 
partnerships and collaborations with 
research institutions.

 y The Group has been able to source 

opportunities through non-exclusive 
relationships and other sources. 

 y Members of the Group’s senior team work 
closely with partner institutions to ensure 
that each commercial relationship is mutually 
beneficial and productive.
 y The Group’s track record in IP 

commercialisation may make the Group 
a partner of choice for other institutions, 
acting as a barrier to entry to competitors.

 y Loss of key executives and 
employees of the Group or 
an inability to attract, retain 
and integrate appropriately 
skilled and experienced staff 
could have an adverse effect 
on the Group’s competitive 
advantage, business, financial 
condition, operational results 
and/or future prospects.

 y Senior team succession plans are in place 

and updated regularly.

 y The Group’s corporate culture and values are 
well-articulated and consistently promoted.

 y The Group carries out regular market 
comparisons for staff and executive 
remuneration and seeks to offer a balanced 
incentive package comprising a mix of salary, 
benefits, performance-based long-term 
incentives and benefits such as flexible 
working and salary sacrifice arrangements.
 y The Group encourages staff development 

and inclusion through coaching and 
mentoring, and carries out regular objective 
setting and appraisal.

 y Completed investments with two new US 

university partners.

 y The Group acquired Parkwalk Advisors Ltd during 

the year. Parkwalk’s investment vehicles include 

the University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds, 

the University of Oxford Innovation Funds and 

the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds. The 

Directors believe that Parkwalk’s strong links to 

university partners will be beneficial to the Group.

 y The Group strengthened its university partnership 

network during the year having signed 9 new 

commercialisation agreements with the top 

universities in Australia and New Zealand and 

through the combination with Touchstone adding 

strong links with Imperial College London through 

its Technology Pipeline agreement (“TPA”). 

 y Completed seed investments with both Oxford 

Sciences Innovation and Cambridge Innovation 

Capital as co-investors, demonstrating the value 

of our strategic stakes in these partners.

 y The Group continues to promote an open culture 

of communication and provides an inspiring and 

challenging workplace where people are given 

autonomy to do their jobs. We are fully supportive 

of flexible working and have enabled employees 

with technology to work flexibly. The Group also 

continues to dedicate resources to remuneration 

and incentivisation.

 y Staff attrition increased during the year to 11%, it 

remained at low absolute levels. Approximately 

44% of staff have been with the Company for at 

least five years.

 y Number of 

new portfolio 

companies.

 y Total equity. 

 y “Net assets”.

 y Number of 

new portfolio 

companies.

 y Management team receives regular capital 
market and economic updates from the 
Group’s capital markets team and its brokers.

 y Six-monthly budget and capital allocation 
process and monitoring against agreed 
budget.

 y Regular oversight of upcoming capital 

requirements of portfolio from both the 
Group and third parties.

 y Macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions 

remain uncertain in the UK, Europe and the rest 

of the world. 

 y The Brexit process remains a source of 

uncertainty in the year.

 y Change in fair value 

of equity and debt 

investments.

 y Total equity. 

 y “Net assets”.

 y Profit/loss 

attributable to 

equity holders.

 y The UK’s recession has had 
(and may continue to have) 
an adverse effect on trading 
conditions and availability of 
capital in the UK, particularly 
for smaller businesses.
 y The success of those 

portfolio companies which 
require significant external 
funding may be influenced 
by the market’s appetite for 
investment in early stage 
companies, which may not be 
sufficient.

 y A significant proportion of the 
Group’s portfolio value is held 
in companies quoted on the 
AIM market and decreases in 
values to this market could 
result in a material fair value 
impact to the portfolio as a 
whole. 

50

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017 
 
RISK AND DESCRIPTION

IMPACT

MITIGATION

RISK TREND

DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE YEAR

STRATEGY

KPI

Strategic Report Risk management

KEY

Increase

Decrease

No change

Create

Develop

Deliver

3   Universities or other 

research-intensive 

institutions may terminate 

their partnerships or other 

collaborative relationships 

with the Group.

The Group’s business, results of 

operations and prospects are at least 

partially dependent on competitive 

advantage gained from access to 

leading scientific research through 

partnerships and other collaborative 

arrangements with research-intensive 

institutions and commercial partners 

such as Oxford Sciences Innovation 

plc, Cambridge Innovation Capital 

and the UCL Technology Fund . 

University partners may terminate 

their partnerships or may move to 

non-exclusive sourcing models. 

4   The Group may lose key 

personnel or fail to attract 

and integrate new personnel.

The industry in which the Group 

operates is a specialised area and 

the Group requires highly qualified 

and experienced employees. There 

is a risk that the Group’s employees 

could be approached and solicited 

by competitors or other technology 

based companies and organisations, 

or could otherwise choose to leave the 

Group. Given the relatively small size 

of the Group, its operations are reliant 

on a small number of key individuals. 

Scaling the team, particularly into 

foreign jurisdictions such as the US, 

presents an additional potential risk.

5   Macroeconomic conditions 

may negatively impact the 

Group’s ability to achieve its 

strategic objectives. 

Adverse macroeconomic conditions 

could reduce the opportunity to 

deploy capital into opportunities or 

may limit the ability of such portfolio 

companies to raise third party funds, 

develop profitable businesses or 

achieve increases in value or exits.

Political uncertainty, including impacts 

from Brexit or similar scenarios, could 

have a number of potential impacts, 

including changes to the labour 

market available to the Group for 

recruitment or regulatory environment 

in which the Group operates.

 y Termination or non-renewal of 

 y Dedicated New Business & Partnerships 

arrangements through failure 

to perform obligations may 

result in the loss of exclusive 

rights. 

team to service existing partnerships and 

source new opportunities.

 y The Group continues to consider and, where 

appropriate, enter into new and innovative 

 y The loss of exclusive rights 

partnerships and collaborations with 

may limit the Group’s 

ability to secure attractive 

IP opportunities to 

commercialise. 

research institutions.

 y The Group has been able to source 

opportunities through non-exclusive 

relationships and other sources. 

 y This could potentially have 

a material adverse effect 

on the Group’s long-term 

business, results of operations, 

performance and prospects. 

 y With several new entrants to 

our market, this may reduce 

our opportunities to create 

new spin-out businesses.

 y Members of the Group’s senior team work 

closely with partner institutions to ensure 

that each commercial relationship is mutually 

beneficial and productive.

 y The Group’s track record in IP 

commercialisation may make the Group 

a partner of choice for other institutions, 

acting as a barrier to entry to competitors.

 y Loss of key executives and 

 y Senior team succession plans are in place 

employees of the Group or 

an inability to attract, retain 

and integrate appropriately 

skilled and experienced staff 

could have an adverse effect 

on the Group’s competitive 

advantage, business, financial 

condition, operational results 

and/or future prospects.

and updated regularly.

 y The Group’s corporate culture and values are 

well-articulated and consistently promoted.

 y The Group carries out regular market 

comparisons for staff and executive 

remuneration and seeks to offer a balanced 

incentive package comprising a mix of salary, 

benefits, performance-based long-term 

incentives and benefits such as flexible 

working and salary sacrifice arrangements.

 y The Group encourages staff development 

and inclusion through coaching and 

mentoring, and carries out regular objective 

setting and appraisal.

 y The UK’s recession has had 

 y Management team receives regular capital 

market and economic updates from the 

Group’s capital markets team and its brokers.

 y Six-monthly budget and capital allocation 

process and monitoring against agreed 

budget.

 y Regular oversight of upcoming capital 

requirements of portfolio from both the 

Group and third parties.

(and may continue to have) 

an adverse effect on trading 

conditions and availability of 

capital in the UK, particularly 

for smaller businesses.

 y The success of those 

portfolio companies which 

require significant external 

funding may be influenced 

by the market’s appetite for 

investment in early stage 

companies, which may not be 

sufficient.

 y A significant proportion of the 

Group’s portfolio value is held 

in companies quoted on the 

AIM market and decreases in 

values to this market could 

result in a material fair value 

impact to the portfolio as a 

whole. 

 y Completed investments with two new US 

university partners.

 y The Group acquired Parkwalk Advisors Ltd during 
the year. Parkwalk’s investment vehicles include 
the University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds, 
the University of Oxford Innovation Funds and 
the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds. The 
Directors believe that Parkwalk’s strong links to 
university partners will be beneficial to the Group.
 y The Group strengthened its university partnership 
network during the year having signed 9 new 
commercialisation agreements with the top 
universities in Australia and New Zealand and 
through the combination with Touchstone adding 
strong links with Imperial College London through 
its Technology Pipeline agreement (“TPA”). 
 y Completed seed investments with both Oxford 
Sciences Innovation and Cambridge Innovation 
Capital as co-investors, demonstrating the value 
of our strategic stakes in these partners.

 y The Group continues to promote an open culture 
of communication and provides an inspiring and 
challenging workplace where people are given 
autonomy to do their jobs. We are fully supportive 
of flexible working and have enabled employees 
with technology to work flexibly. The Group also 
continues to dedicate resources to remuneration 
and incentivisation.

 y Staff attrition increased during the year to 11%, it 

remained at low absolute levels. Approximately 
44% of staff have been with the Company for at 
least five years.

 y Number of 

new portfolio 
companies.

 y Total equity. 

 y “Net assets”.

 y Number of 

new portfolio 
companies.

 y Macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions 

remain uncertain in the UK, Europe and the rest 
of the world. 

 y The Brexit process remains a source of 

uncertainty in the year.

 y Change in fair value 

of equity and debt 
investments.

 y Total equity. 

 y “Net assets”.

 y Profit/loss 

attributable to 
equity holders.

  SEE OUR STRATEGY 
ON PAGES 16 TO 17

  SEE OUR KPIs  
ON PAGES 18 TO 19 

51

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com 
 
Risk management CONTINUED

RISK AND DESCRIPTION

IMPACT

MITIGATION

RISK TREND

DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE YEAR

STRATEGY

KPI

6   There may be changes to, 
impacts from, or failure to 
comply with, legislation, 
government policy and 
regulation.

There may be unforeseen changes in, 
or impacts from, government policy, 
regulation or legislation (including 
taxation legislation). This could include 
changes to funding levels or to the 
terms upon which public monies  
are made available to universities  
and research institutions and  
the ownership of any resulting  
intellectual property.

 y University partners are incentivised to 
protect their IP for exploitation as the 
partnership agreements share returns 
between universities, academic founders 
and the Group. 

 y The Group utilises professional advisers as 
appropriate to support its monitoring of, 
and response to changes in, tax, insurance 
or other legislation. 

 y The Group has internal policies and 

procedures to ensure its compliance with 
applicable FCA regulations and these are 
subject to external review.

 y The Group maintains D&O, professional 
indemnity and clinical trial insurance 
policies.

 y The Group reviews its data and cyber-
security processes with its external 
outsourced IT provider and applies the UK 
Government’s ‘ten steps’ framework.

 y Changes could result in 

universities and researchers 
no longer being able to own, 
exploit or protect intellectual 
property on attractive terms.

 y Changes to tax legislation 

or the nature of the Group’s 
activities, in particular in 
relation to the Substantial 
Shareholder Exemption, may 
adversely affect the Group’s 
tax position and accordingly 
its value and operations.
 y Regulatory changes or 

breaches could ultimately lead 
to withdrawal of regulatory 
permissions for the Group’s 
FCA-authorised subsidiary 
resulting in loss of fund 
management contracts, 
reputational damage or fines.

 y A data security or cyber 

breach could occur or the 
Group could otherwise fail 
to adhere to data protection 
regulations.

 y Total equity. 

 y (“net assets”).

 y Changes to UK Substantial Shareholding 

Exemption rules reduce the level of uncertainty 

around the exemption of disposal gains were 

enacted in Finance (No, 2) Act 2017.

 y Ongoing focus on regulatory compliance 

including third party reviews. 

 y UK Government has committed to university 

funding and has emphasised the importance of 

science and innovation.

 y Specialist therapeutics advisory panel continually 

consulted. 

 y Increased focus on cyber security including 

further development of the Group’s controls using 

the UK Government’s ‘ten steps’ approach and 

review of the Cyber Essentials regime and how 

this applies to the Group.

52

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017 
Strategic Report Risk management

KEY

Increase

Decrease

No change

Create

Develop

Deliver

RISK AND DESCRIPTION

IMPACT

MITIGATION

RISK TREND

DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE YEAR

STRATEGY

KPI

6   There may be changes to, 

impacts from, or failure to 

comply with, legislation, 

government policy and 

regulation.

There may be unforeseen changes in, 

or impacts from, government policy, 

regulation or legislation (including 

taxation legislation). This could include 

changes to funding levels or to the 

terms upon which public monies  

are made available to universities  

and research institutions and  

the ownership of any resulting  

intellectual property.

 y Changes could result in 

 y University partners are incentivised to 

universities and researchers 

no longer being able to own, 

exploit or protect intellectual 

property on attractive terms.

protect their IP for exploitation as the 

partnership agreements share returns 

between universities, academic founders 

and the Group. 

 y Changes to tax legislation 

 y The Group utilises professional advisers as 

or the nature of the Group’s 

activities, in particular in 

relation to the Substantial 

Shareholder Exemption, may 

adversely affect the Group’s 

tax position and accordingly 

its value and operations.

appropriate to support its monitoring of, 

and response to changes in, tax, insurance 

or other legislation. 

 y The Group has internal policies and 

procedures to ensure its compliance with 

applicable FCA regulations and these are 

subject to external review.

 y Regulatory changes or 

breaches could ultimately lead 

 y The Group maintains D&O, professional 

indemnity and clinical trial insurance 

policies.

 y The Group reviews its data and cyber-

security processes with its external 

outsourced IT provider and applies the UK 

Government’s ‘ten steps’ framework.

to withdrawal of regulatory 

permissions for the Group’s 

FCA-authorised subsidiary 

resulting in loss of fund 

management contracts, 

reputational damage or fines.

 y A data security or cyber 

breach could occur or the 

Group could otherwise fail 

to adhere to data protection 

regulations.

 y Total equity. 
 y (“net assets”).

 y Changes to UK Substantial Shareholding 

Exemption rules reduce the level of uncertainty 
around the exemption of disposal gains were 
enacted in Finance (No, 2) Act 2017.

 y Ongoing focus on regulatory compliance 

including third party reviews. 

 y UK Government has committed to university 

funding and has emphasised the importance of 
science and innovation.

 y Specialist therapeutics advisory panel continually 

consulted. 

 y Increased focus on cyber security including 

further development of the Group’s controls using 
the UK Government’s ‘ten steps’ approach and 
review of the Cyber Essentials regime and how 
this applies to the Group.

  SEE OUR STRATEGY 
ON PAGES 16 TO 17

  SEE OUR KPIs  
ON PAGES 18 TO 19

Viability statement 
The Directors have carried out a robust assessment of 
the viability of the Group over a three-year period to 
December 2020, considering its strategy, its current 
financial position and its principal risks. 

The strategy and associated principal risks underpin 
the Group’s three-year financial plan and scenario 
testing, which the Directors review at least annually. 
The three-year plan is built using a bottom up model. 
The three-year plan makes certain assumptions about 
the level of capital deployed into, and realisations 
from, its portfolio of companies, the financial 
performance (and valuation) of the underlying 
portfolio companies, the Group’s utilisation of its debt 
finance facility and ability to raise further capital, and 
the level of the Group’s net overheads. 

To assess the impact of the Group’s principal risks 
on the prospects of the Group, the plan is stress-
tested by modelling several severe but plausible 
downside scenarios as part of the Board’s review of 
the principal risks of the business. These scenarios 
envisage the impact of adverse outcomes in the 
Group’s principal risk areas, primarily through 
reducing the fair value of the Group’s portfolio 
company interests, reducing the amount of capital 
that the Group can raise, lowering the deployment of 
capital and decreasing portfolio company divestment 
proceeds. The scenarios also consider the impact of 
available mitigating actions. 

Based on this assessment, the Directors have a 
reasonable expectation that the Group will continue 
to operate and meets its liabilities, as they fall due, up 
to December 2020.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

53

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com 
Our business ethics and social responsibility

Our goal is to build a sustainable and viable business.
As part of that, the Group seeks to conduct all of its operating and 
business activities in an honest, ethical and socially responsible 
manner and these values underpin our business model and strategy. 

We are committed to acting professionally, fairly 
and with integrity in all our business dealings and 
relationships with consideration for the needs of all 
of our stakeholders including university partners, 
investors, suppliers, employees, and the businesses in 
which the Group has holdings. 

IP Group pioneered the concept of the long-term 
partnership model and has arrangements covering 
18 of the UK’s leading universities, 9 of Australasia’s 
and 5 leading universities in the US. Our ‘New 
Business & Partnerships’ team and sector teams 
work closely with the universities to identify exciting 
opportunities and to ensure these partnerships are 
mutually beneficial. We believe that our approach 
to providing executive and administrative support, 
where appropriate, to portfolio companies gives 
their founders the best possible chance of building 
a successful business. Our support of early-stage 
businesses demonstrates our alignment with 
government initiatives in science and innovation  
and contributes to employment growth in  
the communities in which our portfolio  
companies operate.

In addition to the support they receive from 
the Group, our portfolio businesses often seek 
funding from other sources, both public (such as 
government-backed grant funding) and private 
(from sources ranging from angel investors and 
small privately-owned funds to large institutional 
investors), and the Group will often assist in gaining 
access to this financial capital. The Group complies 
with all applicable legislation in this respect and 
communicates with its co-investors in an appropriate 
and transparent manner. As a publicly traded entity, 
IP Group actively seeks to engage and maintain 
an open dialogue with both institutional and 
private shareholders through its investor relations 
programme.

The Group’s day-to-day activities have limited 
adverse social and environmental impact. There can, 
however, be a more significant impact indirectly 
through the nature and operations of the companies 
that we support with financial and human capital. 
Our portfolio companies, which are primarily focused 
on the healthcare, technology, clean technology and 

biotechnology sectors, are developing solutions to 
some of the most significant social, environmental 
and health challenges faced in the world today. 
Consequently, the Group recognises the importance 
of ensuring that the businesses it establishes and 
nurtures comply with all applicable environmental, 
ethical and social legislation. Further, our direct 
involvement in these companies allows greater  
scope to engage with their management teams and 
offer guidance.

IP Group aims to conduct its business in a socially 
responsible manner, to contribute to the communities 
in which it operates and to respect the needs of its 
employees and all of its stakeholders. The Group is 
committed to growing the business while ensuring a 
safe environment for employees as well as minimising 
the overall impact on the environment. IP Group 
endeavours to conduct its business in accordance 
with established best practice, to be a responsible 
employer and to adopt values and standards 
designed to help guide staff in their conduct and 
business relationships.

The Group works with a variety of suppliers and seeks 
to ensure that there is diversity in the supply chain, 
working with SMEs as well as larger organisations. 
Where possible, we work with local suppliers 
therefore impacting positively on the communities 
where we operate. The Group is a signatory to the 
Prompt Payment Code.

The Group seeks to operate as a responsible 
employer and has adopted standards which 
promote corporate values designed to help and 
guide employees in their conduct and business 
relationships. The Group seeks to comply with all 
laws, regulations and rules applicable to its business 
and to conduct the business in line with applicable 
established best practice. We take a zero tolerance 
approach to bribery and corruption and implement 
and enforce effective systems. The Group is bound 
by the laws of the UK, including the Bribery Act 
2010, and has implemented policies and procedures 
based on such laws. All employees who are involved 
with the regulated business of managing investment 
transactions receive compliance and anti-money 
laundering training, with periodic refresher courses.

54

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our business ethics

Employee diversity and 
employment policies
Diversity is key to how we work and we believe 
that great ideas can come from anyone. As such, 
we believe in equal opportunity for all people 
when it comes to recruitment, selection and career 
development. For the year ended 31 December 2017, 
the Group employed an average of 118 employees and 
had five non-executive directors. A breakdown of our 
people by gender can be seen in the table above. IP 
Group supports the rights of all people as set out in 
the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, 
insofar as it is able to, ensures that all transactions the 
Group enters into uphold these principles.

Total Staff 151 (1)

Board (2)

Senior Leadership Team (3)

Senior managers/partners

All Employees

Male

70%

82%

76%

51%

Female

30%

18%

24%

49%

(1) Excludes NEDs (5) 

(2) Includes Company Secretary 
(3) Includes EDs, Company Secretary, and direct reports to CEO

People management
Our mantra is to recruit exceptional people to do 
exceptional things and we believe our unique culture 
is important in attracting and retaining the best talent. 
Our values – passionate, principled, pioneering – 
describe how we want our staff to feel when working 
in IP Group. We give our people a high degree of 
freedom and authority to accomplish the extraordinary 
things we do and we are necessarily highly supportive 
of ‘flexible working’. We consider these to be 
important in our approach to turning ground-breaking 
science into world-changing businesses.

Because we operate in a highly specialised segment 
of our industry, we endeavour to recruit people with 
a combination of rare skills such as scientists with 
commercial and entrepreneurial backgrounds, who 
can operate with equal confidence in both academia 
and fast-paced start-ups while speaking the language 
of the City. Our people gain significant experience 
from working with a significant number of start-up 
enterprises and seeing first-hand what works and 
what doesn’t. Sharing knowledge and discussing 
these experiences as well as structured training is key 
to leveraging this learning across the Group.

HIGHLIGHTS

Internship – between Summer 2011 
and Summer 2017,  
69 interns have taken part in  
the programme

We have long-term partnerships with  
17 of the UK’s leading universities

To this end, we encourage employees to build very 
strong relationships with all their colleagues by 
keeping everyone updated regularly and often in 
person on the Group’s objectives and progress.

We also believe that exceptional people doing 
exceptional things should be well-rewarded for 
achieving exceptional results. While heavily weighted 
to successful performance over the medium to long-
term, we consider that the Group offers an attractive 
overall remuneration package to all our employees 
with both short and longer-term components. We 
benchmark remuneration and benefits regularly 
against industry peers. Our remuneration and benefits 
package focusses on supporting health (through 
private medical and Ride-to-Work) and family 
(insurance and through inclusion of families in some 
of our other benefit options and Childcare Vouchers) 
while also offering opportunities for investment and 
saving through certain schemes.

Internship programme
Touchstone Innovations has run a regular paid 
internship programme for six years, with the majority 
of those recruited working in the Technology Transfer 
business, Imperial Innovations. Between summer 
2011 and summer 2017, 69 interns have taken part 
in the programme, playing a vital role in providing 
market analyses, patent management and contract 
administration, among other things. This internship 
programme recruits heavily from Imperial College 
London and other leading UK universities, and many 
candidates have PhDs or experience with post-
doctoral research. The internship programme offers 
valuable experience of the commercial aspects of 
science and research. Interns who have completed 
the programme have gone on to work as patent 
attorneys, technology transfer executives, and in 
research positions at start-ups, as well as starting 
their own ventures. 

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55

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur business ethics and social responsibility 
CONTINUED

Health and Safety
All our people are responsible for the promotion of, 
and adherence to, health and safety measures in the 
workplace. The Chief Operating Officer has overall 
responsibility for the implementation of the Group’s 
health and safety policies and procedures.

The primary purpose of the Group’s health and 
safety policy is to enable all of the Group’s people 
to go about their everyday business at work in the 
expectation that they can do so safely and without risk 
to their health. During the years ended 31 December 
2017 and 31 December 2016, no reportable accidents 
occurred under UK Health and Safety regulations.

Copies of the Group’s policies in relation to equal 
opportunities and diversity, health and safety and 
anti-corruption and bribery can be found on the 
Group’s website: www.ipgroupplc.com

Community engagement
The Group seeks to have a positive impact on the 
communities in which it operates and one of the ways 
in which it achieves this is through charitable support 
at both a Group level and by staff. In 2017 the Group 
changed the approach to charity donations and 
signed a 3-year strategic partnership with a charity 
closely aligned to the Group’s values. Generating 
Genius, set up to support talented young people 
from disadvantaged backgrounds to help realise 
their potential in STEM subjects (science, technology, 
engineering and maths) received a £33,333 donation 
from IP Group in 2017. Generating Genius used the 
first tranche of funding to help support 50 newly 
recruited students in Year 10 from a range of schools 
across London, all with a passion for science:

 y 60% of the new cohort is female

 y 64% have previously/are currently claiming free 

school meals

 y 38% will be the first in their family to go to 

university

 y 28% come from local areas with the lowest 

participation in higher education.

The new year 10 pupils, called ‘Junior Genius’, 
attended chemistry masterclasses at L’Oreal Young 
Scientist Centre and Maths Masterclasses with Think 
Maths during the October half–term. Year 10 students 
took part in a colour chemistry session, working 
together to extract a natural dye from pomegranate 
and producing a synthetic dye - Para-red - through 
chemical reactions. In addition, the donation from 
IP Group helped support the sixth form programme 
‘Uni Genius’ with Year 13 students intending to apply 
to Oxbridge or to highly selective universities across 
the country receiving expert advice from university 
admissions staff. Generating Genius was supported 
by staff from the University of Bath, Imperial College 
London and the independent school sector to deliver 
this programme. Support was also provided to 
students to help them make informed choices with 
a session on “Alternatives to Medicine”, supported 
by Queen Mary, University of London. Students 
were challenged to think beyond medicine and 
learned about other diverse university disciplines 
related to science and engineering, led by a Student 
Ambassador. A list of the other charities that IP 
Group has supported to date can be found on the 
Group’s website: www.ipgroupplc.com.

56

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Strategic Report Our business ethics

Environmental policy
While we believe the direct environmental impact 
of IP Group plc and its subsidiary companies is 
relatively small, the Group is committed to ensuring 
the environmental impacts of our business operations 
remain as low as possible. We recognise our 
responsibility to ensure that the business operates 
in an environmentally responsible and sustainable 
manner. Employees are encouraged to reduce their 
impact on the environment by hosting meetings 
via video conference where possible, thereby only 
engaging in business travel when necessary, using 
public transport and by minimising the usage of 
paper by using the recycling facilities provided in 
our offices. While the Board as a whole has primary 
responsibility for environmental issues, it has 
allocated day-to-day responsibility for the review of 
environmental and social issues to the Chief Financial 
Officer, Greg Smith.

In addition, major investment themes for IP Group have 
included, and will continue to include, areas which have 
the potential to develop technologies which could 
result in significant environmental benefits. 

Organisation boundary and  
scope of emissions
The following section includes our mandatory 
reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. The reporting 
period is the same as the Group’s financial year. We 
have reported on all of the emission sources required 
under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and 
Directors’ Reports) Regulations 2013. These sources 
fall within our consolidated financial statement. An 
operational control approach has been used in order 
to define our organisational boundary. This is the 
basis for determining the Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 
which the Group is responsible.

For avoidance of doubt, this excludes any emissions 
from our investment subsidiary companies. 
Management believe the approach taken best 
captures the emissions for which the Group is directly 
responsible and has control over.

FTSE Russell (the trading name of FTSE International 
Limited and Frank Russell Company) confirms that 
IP Group Plc has been independently assessed 
according to the FTSE4Good criteria, and has 
satisfied the requirements to become a constituent of 
the FTSE4Good Index Series. Created by the global 
index provider FTSE Russell, the FTSE4Good Index 
Series is designed to measure the performance of 
companies demonstrating strong Environmental, 

Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The 
FTSE4Good indices are used by a wide variety of 
market participants to create and assess responsible 
investment funds and other products.

GHG reporting
The section below includes our mandatory reporting 
of greenhouse gas emissions. The reporting period is 
the same as the Group’s financial year.

Organisation boundary and  
scope of emissions
We have reported on all of the emission sources 
required under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic 
Report and Directors’ Reports) Regulations 2013. 
These sources fall within our consolidated financial 
statement. 

An operational control approach has been used in 
order to define our organisational boundary. This 
is the basis for determining the Scope 1, 2 and 3 
emissions for which the Group is responsible. 

For avoidance of doubt, this excludes any emissions 
from our investment subsidiary companies. 
Management believes the approach taken best 
captures the emissions for which the Group is directly 
responsible and has control over. 

Methodology
The Group has employed the services of a specialist 
adviser, Verco, to quantify the GHG emissions 
associated with the Group’s operations.

The following methodology was applied by Verco in 
the preparation and presentation of this data:

 y use of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol published 
by the World Business Council for Sustainable 
Development and the World Resources Institute 
(the “WBCSD/WRI GHG Protocol”); 

 y application of Defra emission factors to the 

Group’s activities to calculate GHG emissions;

 y application of location-based and market-based 
Scope 2 emissions factors for electricity supplies;

 y inclusion of all the applicable Kyoto gases, 

expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents, or CO2e;

 y presentation of gross emissions as the Group does 

not purchase carbon credits (or equivalents).

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur business ethics and social responsibility 
CONTINUED

Absolute emissions
The total greenhouse emissions from IP Group plc’s 
operations in the financial year 2017 (year ending 
31 December 2017) were: 

Location-based:  
1,275.1 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e)

Market-based: 
1,249.8 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e)

There were significant changes to the company’s 
operations since 2016. The Group acquired Parkwalk 
Advisors and Touchstone Innovations during 2017. 
The Group changed office locations in London, 
Sheffield and the US. The head office in London was 
based at two locations for four months of the year. 
There has been an increase in Scope 1 emissions 
due to natural gas use. Scope 2 emissions have also 
increased, although there has been a reduction in 
district heating due to the Sheffield office move. The 
most significant change was a reduction in Scope 3 
emissions due to changes in business travel and also 
a decrease in waste. There was also an increase in 
emissions from employee commuting.

Intensity ratio
As well as reporting the absolute emissions, the 
Group’s GHG emissions are reported below on the 
metric of tonnes per square metre of occupied office 
space. This is considered the most appropriate metric 
given that the majority of emissions result from the 
operation of the Group’s offices and the day-to-day 
activities of the employees.

Target and baselines
Given the comparatively low GHG impact of the 
Group’s operations, the Group’s objective is to 
maintain or reduce its GHG per square metre of office 
space each year and will report each year whether it 
has been successful in this regard. 

For 2017, the intensity metric using the location-based 
method has decreased from 0.09 tCO2e per m2 to 
0.04 tCO2e per m2. The main source of this decrease 
is from Scope 2 emissions. This is due to a reduction 
in the carbon intensity of the electricity grid in the 
United Kingdom.

The 2017 intensity metric using the market-based 
method decreased slightly from 0.04 tCO2e per m2 to 
0.03 tCO2e per m2.

Key figures

IP Group emissions by scope

tC02e

22.0

2017
(market-based)

134.7

22.0

160.0

2017
(location-based)

1,093.0

1,093.0

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Scope 1

Scope 2

Scope 3

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017 
Strategic Report Our business ethics

2017 
Tonnes
CO2e

2016 
Tonnes
CO2e

2015 
Tonnes
CO2e

2017 
Tonnes
CO2e

2016 
Tonnes
CO2e

2015 
Tonnes
CO2e

GHG emissions

Scope 11

Scope 2 (location-based)2

Scope 2 (market-based)2

Subtotal (location-based)

Subtotal (market-based)

22

160

135

182.1

156.8

4.7

74.9

24.6

79.7

29.4

Scope 33

 1,093.0 

 3,093.5 

127.7

97.7

—

225.3

—

235.2

Total GHG emissions  
(Location-based Scope 2) 

Total GHG emissions (Market-
based Scope 2) 

 1,275.1 

 3,173.2 

460.5

 1,249.8 

 3,122.9 

—

1 

Scope 1 being emissions from the Group’s combustion of fuel and operation of facilities.

0.00

0.03

0.03

0.04

0.03

—

—

—

0.01

0.09

0.03

0.09

0.04

—

—

—

0.15

0.12

—

0.27

—

—

—

—

2  Scope 2 being electricity (from location-based calculations), heat, steam and cooling purchased for the Group’s own use.

3  Scope 3 being all indirect emissions (not in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and 

downstream emissions 2017 (114 employees & 4,706 m2 office space)

Waste production 

Landfill waste

Recycled waste

Total Waste

2017 
Tonnes

2016 
Tonnes

2015 
Tonnes

0.6

2.1

2.7

1.2

2.1

3.3

6.7

2.1

8.8

Board approval
The Strategic Report as set out on pages 7 to 59 has been approved by the Board. 

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

MIKE HUMPHREY 
29 March 2018

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59

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comDevelop

To develop and support these opportunities into  
a diversified portfolio of robust businesses

60

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

OUR GOVERNANCE

Overview 

Board of directors 

Corporate governance  
statement 

Committee reports 

62

64

Directors’ remuneration report   80

Report of the audit and  
risk committee 

Other statutory 

Directors’ report 

Statement of directors’  
responsibilities 

100

105

107

Stock Code: IPO www.ipgroupplc.com

61

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Board of directors

Mike Humphrey Non-executive Chairman

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment
24 March 2015
Age: 66
Independent: N/A1
Tenure: 6 years

Term of office 3 years,  
3 months’ notice
Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience Formerly 
40+ years at Croda plc 
including 13 years as CEO

Current external 
appointments2 None
Committee memberships 
Nomination (chair) and 
Remuneration

Alan Aubrey Chief Executive Officer

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment 
20 January 2005
Age: 56
Independent: No
Tenure: 13 years 

Term of office Permanent, 
6 months’ notice
Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience Founder of 
Techtran Group, 7 years as 
partner at KPMG, FCA  
20+ Years

Current external 
appointments2 Non-
executive Chairman 
Proactis Holdings plc
Committee memberships 
Executive, Disclosure

Mike Townend Chief Investment Officer

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment  
5 March 2007
Age: 55
Independent: No
Tenure: 11 years

Term of office Permanent, 
6 months’ notice
Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience 17+ years 
equity capital markets 
experience at Lehman 
Brothers, Donaldson, Lufkin 
and Jenrette.

Current external 
appointments2 None
Committee memberships 
Executive

Greg Smith Chief Financial Officer
Effective date of current 
letter of appointment  
2 June 2011
Age: 39
Independent: No
Tenure: 6 years 

Term of office Permanent, 
6 months’ notice
Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience KPMG 
background, FCA 10+ years

Current external 
appointments2 None
Committee memberships 
Executive, Disclosure

David Baynes Chief Operating Officer

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment
20 March 2014
Age: 54
Independent: No
Tenure: 4 years

Term of office Permanent, 
6 months’ notice
Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience 10 years as 
CEO at Fusion IP plc, 
previous experience taking 

companies from start-up to 
full listing on the London 
Stock Exchange
Current external 
appointments2 None
Committee memberships 
Executive

62

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Jonathan Brooks Non-executive Director

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment
31 August 2011
Age: 62
Independent: Yes
Tenure: 6 years 

Term of office 3 years,  
3 months’ notice
Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience Formerly CFO 
ARM Holdings plc, 20+ 
years technology sector 
experience, FCMA

Current external 
appointments NCC Group 
plc
Committee memberships 
Nomination, Audit (chair) 
and Remuneration (chair)

Professor Lynn Gladden, CBE Non-executive Director

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment
26 March 2014
Age: 56
Independent: Yes
Tenure: 4 years 
Term of office 3 years,  
3 months’ notice

Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience Fellow of 
the Royal Society, Royal 
Academy of Engineering, 
Institution of Chemical 
Engineers, Royal Society of 
Chemistry and Institute of 

Physics, Shell Professor of 
Chemical Engineering
Current external 
appointments The British 
Land Company PLC
Committee memberships 
Nomination, Audit and 
Remuneration

Dr Elaine Sullivan Non-executive Director

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment  
30 July 2015
Age: 57
Independent: Yes
Tenure: 2 years
Term of office 3 years,  
3 months’ notice

Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM
Experience 25+ years 
pharmaceutical industry 
experience, senior 
management teams of Eli 
Lilly and Astra Zeneca, 
currently CEO of Carrick 
Therapeutics

Current external 
appointments Supervisory 
Board of Evotec AG, CEO 
of Carrick Therapeutics UK 
Limited
Committee memberships 
Nomination, Audit and 
Remuneration

Professor David Knox Houston Begg Senior Independent Director

Effective date of current 
letter of appointment  
18 October 2017
Age: 67
Independent: Yes
Tenure: Less than 1 year
Term of office 3 years,  
3 months’ notice
Re-election to Board 
Annually at AGM

Experience Professor of 
Economics at Imperial 
College London, Principal 
of Imperial College 
Business School 2003-2011. 
Previous appointments 
include Professor of 
Economics at Birkbeck 
College, Visiting Fellow 
at the Reserve Bank of 

Australia and Visiting 
Professor at M.I.T and 
acting as an economic 
policy advisor to the Bank 
of England.
Current external 
appointments None 
Committee memberships 
Nomination, Audit and 
Remuneration

1  Mr Humphrey was considered by the Board to be independent on appointment.

2  Excludes appointments to Group portfolio company boards.

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63

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Our Governance OverviewCorporate governance statement

The Board continues to recognise the 
importance of a top-down focus on corporate 
governance as an integral part of all of the 
Group’s activities. 
MIKE HUMPHREY CHAIRMAN

2017 has been a busy year for the Group with 
the combination with Touchstone Innovations, 
the completion of a significant equity fundraising 
and expansion into Australasia, alongside strong 
performances from portfolio companies in each of 
its sectors.

The Board continues to focus on developing a robust 
corporate governance strategy alongside promoting a 
culture of risk identification, reporting and mitigation. 
The Board remains focused on the execution of 
the Group’s strategy and working with its partner 
institutions to develop outstanding businesses 
based on unique intellectual property. In doing so, it 
continues to recognise the importance of a top-down 
focus on corporate governance as an integral part of 
all of the Group’s activities. 

The Board is accountable to the Group’s shareholders 
for good governance and this report, together with 
the Reports of the Remuneration, Nomination and 
Audit and Risk Committees of the Board describes 
the Group’s detailed approach to corporate 
governance and further information on the key 
developments in these areas during the year.

The Board looks forward to being able to discuss 
these matters with shareholders at the Group’s 
forthcoming AGM in June 2018 or indeed at any other 
point during the year.

MIKE HUMPHREY 
CHAIRMAN

Compliance with the UK Corporate 
Governance Code
The Directors are committed to a high standard of 
corporate governance and to compliance with the 
best practice of the UK Corporate Governance Code 
(the “Code”). The version of the Code applicable to 
reporting periods beginning on or after 17 June 2016 
was the version issued by the Financial Reporting 
Council in April 2016. The Directors consider that the 
Group has been and continues to be in compliance 
with all of the provisions set out in the Code. 

Further explanation as to how the main principles 
set out in the Code have been applied by the Group 
is set out in the following statement, the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report, the Audit and Risk Committee 
Report and the Strategic Report.

The Board
Role and responsibilities of the Board 
The Board is responsible to shareholders for the 
overall management of the Group as a whole. Whilst 
seeking to support entrepreneurial behaviour in its 
partner institutions through the identification of 
compelling intellectual property with the potential 
to grow into robust, unique and world changing 
business propositions, the Board also seeks to 
provide entrepreneurial leadership within a framework 
of controls for assessing and managing risk; defining, 
challenging and interrogating the Group’s strategic 
aims and direction.

64

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017The Board recognises that in doing so it is necessary 
to support the maintenance and evolution of a 
policy and decision-making framework in which such 
strategic aims are implemented; ensuring that the 
necessary financial and human resources are in place 
to meet those aims; monitoring performance against 
key financial and non-financial indicators; succession 
planning; overseeing the system of risk management; 
setting values and standards in governance matters; 
monitoring policies and performance on corporate 
social responsibility and helping to shape and embed 
the Group’s corporate culture and values. 

The Directors recognise that the long-term nature 
of the business of the Group in evolving great ideas 
into world changing businesses presents novel and 
unique challenges from both an operational and 
strategic standpoint. In supporting the evolution of 
novel technologies into outstanding intellectual based 
companies, the Board acknowledges the key roles 
of Group functions in the fields of executive search, 
capital raising, company secretarial and legal support 
alongside the delivery of in-house mentoring and 
development of portfolio company management 
teams, as well as from time to time facilitating portfolio 
company board strategy days. The Directors believe 
that the Group’s approach to supporting the portfolio 
companies it develops in this way is unique and serves 
not only to build sustainable businesses with longevity, 
but also to provide attractive returns for stakeholders 
by creating value over the longer term. 

The robustness of the Group’s portfolio, supported  
in this way, has been borne out over the course of  
the year in review. The impact of Brexit negotiations 
and other political transitions has continued to 
provide a volatile backdrop to what has proven to 
be a year of notable commercial progress within the 
Group’s portfolio.

The Directors are responsible for promoting the long-
term success of the Company, and thereby the Group, 
taking into account the interests of shareholders 
and other key stakeholders including employees, 
suppliers, customers, universities and other partners, 
the community and the environment; for ensuring that 
obligations to shareholders and other stakeholders are 
understood and met; and in maintaining a satisfactory 
dialogue with shareholders. All Directors are equally 
accountable to the Company’s shareholders for 

the proper stewardship of its affairs and its long-
term success. The responsibility of the Directors is 
collective, taking into account their respective roles 
as Executive Directors and Non-executive Directors. 
The Executive Directors are directly responsible for 
running the business operations, and developing 
and implementing strategy, and the Non-executive 
Directors are responsible for constructively challenging 
and contributing to proposals on strategy, scrutinising 
the performance of management, determining levels 
of remuneration and for succession planning for the 
Executive Directors and senior management. The 
Non-executive Directors must also satisfy themselves 
on the integrity of financial information and that 
financial controls and systems of risk management are 
robust and comprehensive. Further details in relation 
to the Group’s approach to the management of its 
business risks, and the function and ongoing roles and 
responsibilities of its internal Risk Council are set out 
on pages 46 to 53 and on pages 100 to 104.

Strategy
The Board reviews the strategy of the Group and 
any issues arising from it on a regular basis and 
exercises control over the performance of the Group 
by agreeing budgetary targets and monitoring 
performance against those targets. Any decisions 
made by the Board on policies and strategy to be 
adopted by the Group, or changes to current policies 
and strategy, are made following a Board paper and 
presentations by the Executive Directors on the same 
and a detailed process of review, discussion and 
constructive challenge by the Board as a whole. Once 
made, the Executive Directors are fully empowered to 
implement those decisions.

  READ ABOUT OUR STATEGY ON PAGES 16 TO 17

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65

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Our Governance OverviewCorporate governance statement CONTINUED

The three principal Board Committees (Audit and Risk, 
Remuneration and Nomination) play an essential role 
in supporting the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities 
and ensuring that the highest standards of corporate 
governance are maintained throughout the Group. 
Each Committee has its own terms of reference which 
set out the specific matters for which delegated 
authority has been given by the Board. 

The current terms of reference for the Audit and Risk 
Committee, which were updated in December 2015, 
are fully compliant with the provisions of the Code 
and reflect best practice. The terms of reference 
were reviewed by the Audit and Risk Committee 
throughout the year and no amendments were 
considered necessary. 

A previous review of the terms of reference of each 
of the Remuneration Committee and Nomination 
Committee during 2016 concluded that, whilst 
compliant with the provisions of the Code, certain 
amendments were desirable to reflect current best 
and market practice and the actual workings of 
the relevant Committee. The terms of reference 
for the Remuneration Committee and Nomination 
Committee were updated, recommended for approval 
and adopted by the Board in February 2016 and May 
2016 respectively. No further updates were made 
during 2017. 

Each Committee will continue to review its own 
terms of reference at least annually and propose 
any updates where necessary. All of the current 
Committee terms of reference are available on 
request from the Company Secretary or within the 
Corporate Governance section of the Group’s website 
at www.ipgroupplc.com.

Schedule of Matters
Except for a formal schedule of matters which are 
reserved for decision and approval by the Board, the 
Board has delegated the day-to-day management 
of the Group’s operations to the Executive Directors, 
supported closely by its senior management team 
comprising, amongst others, the newly created roles 
of Managing Partner, Life Sciences and Managing 
Partner, Technology. Through 2017 and the early part 
of 2018, this day-to-day management had previously 
been delegated to an Executive Committee but the 
constitution of the same was reviewed in detail as 
part of the integration of the Touchstone Innovations 
business and the decision was made to make some 
changes in order to ensure each component of the 
Group’s business was properly represented and had 
a direct report into the Chief Executive Officer. The 
schedule of matters reserved for Board decision 
and approval are those significant to the Group 
as a whole due to their strategic, financial and/or 
reputational implications. The previous schedule, 
which was adopted by the Board in August 2014 has 
been reviewed in early 2018 as part of the integration 
of the Touchstone business, with particular attention 
being given to the effect of the increased size of the 
combined Group on delegated investment authorities 
to the new created Life Sciences and Technology 
Partnerships, headed by their respective Managing 
Partners, as well as to the US and Australia.

The schedule of matters reserved for the Board 
includes, without limitation, those matters more 
particularly set out in the box in the table on page 
67 and the full schedule can be found within the 
Corporate Governance section of the Group’s website 
at www.ipgroupplc.com. 

Committees and Oversight
In addition to the Executive Directors, the Board 
delegates specific responsibilities to certain additional 
Committees that assist the Board in carrying out its 
functions and to ensure independent oversight of 
internal control and risk management. 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Available from the 
Company Secretary 
or on our corporate 
website

www.ipgroupplc.com

Matters 
Reserved for 
the Board

 y Approval of the Annual Report and accounts and half-year 

results statement, accounting policies and procedures and any 
matter having a material impact on future financial performance 
of the Group.

 y Strategic acquisitions or disposals by the Group.

 y Major portfolio investment decisions, being those: (i) into the 

Group’s strategic assets (as defined by the Board from time to 
time); (ii) in excess of £10m per investment; and (iii) in excess of 
£10m on a cumulative basis in a single portfolio company (and 
£5m increments thereafter).

 y Entry by the Group into strategic partnerships and collaborations 

with universities and other research institutions.

 y Major realisations from the Group’s portfolio being those: (i) 

relating to the Group’s strategic assets (as defined by the Board 
from time to time; and (ii) in excess of £10m.

 y Approval and monitoring of the Group’s strategic aims and 

objectives. 

 y Approval of the annual budget and any material changes to it.

 y Considering and, where appropriate, approving Directors’ 

conflicts of interest where permitted by the Company’s Articles 
of Association.

 y Approving appointments to the Board and, subject to 

shareholder approval, determining and approving policies relating 
to Directors’ remuneration and any changes in relation to the 
same.

 y Approval of terms of reference and membership of Board 

committees.

 y Approval, subject to shareholder approval, of the appointment 

and remuneration of the external auditors.

 y Approval of all circulars, prospectuses and other documents 
issued to shareholders governed by the FCA’s Listing Rules, 
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules or the City Code on 
Takeovers and Mergers.

 y Changes to the Group’s capital structure, the issue of any 

securities and material borrowing of the Group. 

 y The division of responsibility between the Chairman and the 

Chief Executive Officer.

 y The introduction of new share incentive plans or major changes 

to existing plans.

 y Material borrowings by the Group.

 y Material litigation.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Our Governance OverviewCorporate governance statement CONTINUED

Board 
Committees

The terms of reference of each Committee establish its 
responsibilities and are available from the Company Secretary and 
on the Group’s corporate website: www.ipgroupplc.com.

Available from the 
Company Secretary 
or on our corporate 
website

www.ipgroupplc.com

Executive 
Directors

Day-to-day decisions are delegated to the Executive Directors who, 
in turn, have delegated those portfolio investment and realisation 
decisions other than those reserved for the Board (see above) 
to the Managing Partner, Life Sciences and Managing Partner, 
Technology (see below). 

Managing 
Partners, 
Life 
Sciences 
and 
Technology

Portfolio investment and realisation decisions other than those 
reserved for the Board are delegated to the Managing Partner, Life 
Sciences and the Managing Partner, Technology, with a tiered level 
of decision within defined parameters being delegated further to 
sub-committees of the Life Sciences and Technology Partnerships, 
as well as to the US and Australia. 

Disclosure Committee established in 2016 continues 
to assist the Group to make timely and accurate 
disclosure of all information that is required to 
be disclosed to meet its legal and regulatory 
obligations and requirements arising from its listing 
on the London Stock Exchange. It also enables the 
Group to meet its obligations under the Market 
Abuse Regulation and takes responsibility for the 
assessment and control of inside information.

Board size and composition
As at 31 December 2017 and following the retirement 
of Doug Liversidge as noted below, there were nine 
Directors on the Board: the Chairman, four Executive 
Directors and four Non-executive Directors. The 
biographies of all Directors are provided on pages 62 
and 63. 

2017 saw two changes to the Board: Doug Liversidge, 
who had previously served as chairman of Fusion 
IP plc prior to its acquisition by the Group in March 
2014, was appointed as Non-Executive Director on 
24 March 2014 and became Senior Independent 
Director in March 2015, retired from the Board 
with effect from 31 December 2017 after a lengthy 
period of distinguished service; Professor David 
Begg, previously a non-executive director of 
Touchstone Innovations plc, was appointed as a 
Non-executive Director of the Group on 18 October 
2017 in connection with the Group’s combination 
with Touchstone Innovations plc. Professor Begg was 
subsequently appointed as the Senior Independent 
Director with effect from 31 December 2017, 
succeeding Mr Liversidge upon his retirement.

New directors may be appointed by the Board from 
time to time but the appointee is always subject to 
election by shareholders at the first Annual General 
Meeting following their appointment. Accordingly, 
Professor Begg will submit himself for election by 
shareholders at the Group’s Annual General Meeting 
to be held on 18 June 2018. In accordance with 
both the Code and the Group’s policy, all of the 
other Directors will submit themselves for annual 
re-election by shareholders at the Group’s Annual 
General Meeting on 18 June 2018. 

The Board unanimously recommends to shareholders 
the appointment of Professor Begg as a Director 
of the Company given both his highly esteemed 
background in economics, academia and business, 
as well as his in depth knowledge of the Touchstone 
business, portfolio companies and people, having 
served as a non-executive director of Touchstone 
Innovations since 20 March 2012. Furthermore, the 
Board unanimously recommends to shareholders the 
reappointment of all of the other Directors retiring at 
the meeting and offering themselves for re-election, 
on the basis that the annual Board evaluation 
demonstrated that they are all effective directors of 
the Company and continue to display the appropriate 
level of commitment in their respective roles. 

An extract of the Group’s Policy relating to the 
terms of appointment and the remuneration of both 
Executive Directors and Non-executive Directors is 
detailed in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on 
pages 80 to 99.

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Board Observers
With effect from the Board meeting in February 
2018, each of the Group’s newly appointed Managing 
Partners of Life Sciences and Technology, Dr Sam 
Williams and Mark Reilly, will be invited to attend 
the Group’s Board meetings as observers. Such 
attendance will at all times be entirely at the 
Chairman’s discretion and the observers shall, upon 
attendance but subject to disclosing and managing 
any conflicts of interest (which may require the 
relevant observer to be excluded from all or part 
of future Board meetings), be able to speak and 
participate in the discussions of the Board, but not to 
vote on any decisions required by the Board. 

In agreeing to extend such invite to these individuals, 
the Board felt that as the two most senior investment 
professionals in the business, with oversight and 
accountability for the performance of a majority of 
the value of the Group’s portfolio, it was important 
for them to have a degree of direct representation 
at Board meetings and to be available to report to, 
and respond directly to questions and challenge 
from, the Board over the assets they managed. In 
addition, the Board welcomes the additional diversity 
of viewpoints that will be offered by such individuals, 
their contribution to the quality of the debate on key 
issues affecting the Group and its portfolio and the 
increased stakeholder engagement offered by their 
attendance (for example, employees and portfolio 
company investors). 

Diversity
The Board is committed to a culture that attracts 
and retains talented people to deliver outstanding 
performance and further enhance the success of 
the Group. In that culture, diversity across a range 
of criteria is valued. The Board recognises that 
diversity, in all its forms, is key for introducing different 
perspectives into board debate and decision making. 
A genuinely diverse board comprises individuals with 
a range of personal attributes, perspectives, skills, 
knowledge, experiences and backgrounds, as well as 
representing differences in nationality, race and gender.

The Board’s policy is to make appointments to the 
Board based upon merit against objective criteria. In 
addition, the Board agrees that diversity (including 
gender, ethnic and cultural diversity) remains a key 
aspect in creating an optimal board in terms of 
balance and composition. 

In relation to gender diversity, the Nomination 
Committee gave further consideration throughout 
the year as to whether to set a target in relation to 
the number of women on the Board and in particular 
with reference to the Women on Boards Report by 
Lord Davies issued in March 2015 and the Hampton-
Alexander Review issued in November 2017. Whilst 
the Group endorses Lord Davies’ recommendations 
and the target of 33% women in FTSE 250 leadership 
teams contained in the Hampton-Alexander Review, 
it does not consider it appropriate nor in its best 
interests to set either Board or Group-wide fixed 
targets at this stage and prefers instead to continue 
to consider all aspects of diversity (including, but not 
limited to gender) when assessing the overall Board 
composition and in making further new appointments. 
Notwithstanding that it does not have a fixed target 
in relation to the number of women on the Board, the 
Company currently has two female directors on its 
Board and will aim to maintain female representation 
on the Board at least at this current level. In addition, 
the terms of reference of the Nomination Committee 
include a requirement for the Nomination Committee 
to consider diversity including but not limited 
to gender, nationality and race in evaluating the 
composition of the Board and in identifying suitable 
candidates for Board appointments. 

In relation to ethnic diversity, the Nomination 
Committee has reviewed the final Parker Review 
Committee Report on the ethnic diversity of 
boards issued in October 2017 and is aware of the 
recommendation that each FTSE 250 board should 
have a director of colour by 2024. Similar to the 
approach adopted by the Committee with respect to 
gender diversity, the Committee does not consider it 
appropriate to set Board or Group-wide fixed targets 
at this stage with respect to ethnic diversity and will 
continue to consider all aspects of diversity when 
making further appointments.

When Board vacancies arise, the Group’s Nomination 
Committee will require the Group’s in-house executive 
search function and/or external search consultants (as 
appropriate) to identify and present qualified people 
of a range of diverse backgrounds, gender, nationality 
and ethnicity to be considered for appointment. 

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The Group’s commitment to diversity at the senior 
management level is also very strong and it actively 
works to increase the number of women, ethnic and 
other cultural diversities in leadership positions within 
the Group. Specifically on gender, whilst, as stated 
above, the Group does not consider it appropriate nor 
in its best interests to set Group-wide fixed targets for 
women in leadership positions at this stage, both the 
Group’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman signed 
up to the 30% Club in January 2018, in connection with 
which they have committed to setting an aspirational 
target of 30% female representation in the Group’s 
leadership team by 2020. The Group is in the process 
of setting up a working group whose mandate will be 
to examine ways in which this aspirational target may 
be achieved and to thereafter lead action on those 
actions decided upon. 

A breakdown of employee diversity showing the 
number of persons who were Directors of the 
Company and senior managers at the date of this 
report can be found on page 55.

Non-executive Directors
The Non-executive Directors provide a wide range of 
unique skills and experience to the Group. By virtue 
of such a diverse mix of skills and experience, the 
Non-executive Directors are and continue to be well 
placed to constructively challenge and scrutinise the 
performance of executive management at both Board 
and Committee meetings. 

The Code sets out the circumstances that should be 
relevant to the Board in determining whether each 
Non-executive Director is independent. The Board 
considers Non-executive Director independence on an 
annual basis as part of each Non-executive Director’s 
performance evaluation. Having undertaken this 
review, and with due regard to provision B.1.1 of the 
Code, the Board has concluded this year that all of the 
Non-executive Directors are considered by the Board 
to be independent of management and free of any 
relationship or circumstance which could materially 
influence or interfere with, or affect, or appear to 
affect, the exercise of their independent judgement.

Since 2009, the Board’s policy has been to prohibit 
personal investments by the Non-executive Directors 
in any of the Group’s portfolio companies, whether 
new or existing, and including all Touchstone portfolio 
companies from the date of completion of the 
combination on 17 October 2017. This policy remains 
unchanged and accordingly, none of the 

Non-executive Directors presenting themselves for 
election or re-election at the Annual General Meeting 
in 2018 have holdings in any of the Group’s portfolio 
companies.

Non-executive Directors are required to obtain the 
formal written approval of the Chairman before 
taking on any further directorial appointments and 
the Chairman requires the approval of the Board 
before adding to his commitments. In all cases, 
the Non-executive Directors must ensure that their 
external appointments do not involve excessive time 
commitments or cause a conflict of interest. 

The roles of Chairman and Chief 
Executive Officer
Mike Humphrey is the Group’s Chairman. The division 
of responsibilities between the Chairman and the 
Chief Executive Officer is clearly established, set out 
in writing and agreed by the Board. The Chairman 
is responsible for the leadership and conduct of 
the Board, the conduct of the Group’s affairs and 
strategy and for ensuring effective communication 
with shareholders. The Chairman facilitates the full 
and effective contribution of Non-executive Directors 
at Board and Committee meetings, ensures that they 
are kept well informed and fosters a constructive 
relationship between the Executive Directors and 
Non-executive Directors. The Chairman also ensures 
that the membership of the Board is appropriate 
to the needs of the business and that the Board 
Committees carry out their duties, including reporting 
back to the Board following their meetings, either 
orally or in writing, at the next Board meeting 
depending on its proximity to the meeting of the 
relevant committee. 

The role of the Chief Executive Officer is to lead 
the delivery of the strategy and the executive 
management of the Group and its operating 
businesses. The Chief Executive Officer is responsible, 
amongst other things, for the development and 
implementation of strategy and processes which 
enable the Group to meet the requirements of its 
shareholders, for delivering the operating plans and 
budgets for the Group’s business sectors, monitoring 
business performance against key performance 
indicators (KPIs) and reporting on these to the Board, 
and for providing the appropriate environment to 
recruit, engage, retain and develop the high quality 
personnel needed to deliver the Group’s strategy. 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Senior Independent Director
Doug Liversidge was the Senior Independent Director 
until his retirement on 31 December 2017. Upon his 
retirement, Professor David Begg was appointed as his 
successor to the role of Senior Independent Director.

A key responsibility of the Senior Independent 
Director is to be available to shareholders in the event 
that they may feel it inappropriate to relay views 
through the Chairman or Chief Executive Officer. 
In addition, the Senior Independent Director serves 
as an intermediary between the rest of the Board 
and the Chairman, where necessary, and takes the 
lead when the Non-executive Directors assess the 
Chairman’s performance and when the appointment 
of a new Chairman is considered (other than where 
the Senior Independent Director himself or herself 
wishes to be considered for the role). Further, the 
Senior Independent Director will lead the Board 
in their deliberations on any matters on which the 
Chairman is conflicted.

Board support
The Company Secretary is responsible to the Board 
for ensuring that Board procedures are followed, 
applicable rules and regulations are complied with 
and that the Board is advised on governance matters 
and relevant regulatory matters. All Directors have 
access to the impartial advice and services of the 
Company Secretary. The Company Secretary acts 
as a key point of contact for the Chairman and has 
an important role in the quality of information that 
flows between the Executive Directors and the Non-
executive Directors and the Company Secretary 
is also responsible for ensuring agreed actions are 
completed. The Company Secretary supports the 
Chairman on performance evaluation, the induction 
of new directors and the continuing development of 
current directors including ensuring directors receive 
suitable training to enable them to comply with their 
duties and effectively carry out their roles.

There is also an agreed procedure for directors 
to take independent professional advice at the 
Company’s expense. In accordance with the 
Company’s Articles of Association, directors have 
been granted an indemnity issued by the Company 
to the extent permitted by law in respect of liabilities 
incurred as a result of their office. The indemnity 

would not provide any coverage where a director is 
proved to have acted fraudulently or dishonestly.  
A copy of the indemnity is available for inspection  
as required by the Companies Act 2006. The 
Company has also arranged appropriate insurance 
cover in respect of legal action against its directors 
and officers.

Board meetings, provision of 
information and decisions
The Board meets regularly during the year as well 
as on an ad hoc basis, as required in response to the 
needs of the Group’s business. 

The Board had seven scheduled Board meetings in 
2017 with six Board meetings scheduled for 2018 
to ensure that the meeting schedule is sufficient to 
meet the needs of the business. The requirement for 
additional scheduled meetings shall be kept under 
review by the Chairman and the Company Secretary. 
In order to assist the Board in gaining a deeper 
understanding of the breadth, stage of development 
and diversity of the Group’s portfolio, the Heads of 
the Group’s previous four sector teams (Healthcare, 
Biotech, Technology and Cleantech) presented to the 
Board throughout the year to enable the Board to 
review the progress, performance and objectives (for 
the next twelve to eighteen months) of each sector. 
The Board also received presentations from the 
New Business and Partnerships Team on the Group’s 
sourcing strategy and an update from the US team. 

The majority of Board meetings are held at the 
Group’s offices in London. The Board also aims to 
have at least one of its scheduled meetings, or its 
annual strategy day(s), at either the Company’s 
offices in Leeds, Oxford, Sheffield or Cardiff or at the 
location of one of the Group’s partner universities 
in order to encourage further interaction with 
the Group’s stakeholders. Meetings between the 
Chairman and the Non-executive Directors, both 
with and without the presence of the Chief Executive 
Officer, are also held as the need arises. 

In addition to the seven scheduled Board meetings, 
the Board would ordinarily have held a two-day 
strategy meeting in October 2017. Given the 
significant corporate transactions during the 
year, including the combination with Touchstone 
Innovations which only formally completed on 
17 October 2017, it was agreed that, in place of 
the annual strategy meeting this year, the Board 

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Our Governance OverviewCorporate governance statement CONTINUED

should spend a full day across the two main offices 
of Touchstone Innovations, receiving detailed 
presentations from each of the Touchstone Chief 
Executive Officer, the Touchstone Chief Investment 
Officer and the Managing Director of Imperial 
Innovations on the Touchstone Innovations business 
and its strategy, its key assets and the workings of 
the Imperial Innovations’ Technology Transfer Office. 
This enabled each member of the Board to gain a 
proper insight into, and ask questions of the previous 
executive directors of, the business of Touchstone 
Innovations.

The Board intends to reinstate its annual strategy 
days in October 2018 to provide an opportunity 
for all Directors, and particularly the Non-executive 
Directors, to reflect on the first 12 months of the 
Group and Touchstone Innovations operating as a 
combined Group; to ensure that the strategy of the 
combined Group is on course; to discuss medium and 
longer term strategic objectives, and the key drivers 
underpinning these; and to review the combined 
Group’s risk framework and risk appetite, including 
considering the major risks facing the combined 
Group and its strategy and how to assess, manage, 
mitigate and/or monitor the same. 

The schedule of Board and Committee meetings each 
year is, so far as is possible, determined before the 
commencement of that year and all Directors or, if 
appropriate, all Committee members are expected to 
attend each meeting. Board meetings are often split 
over two days to ensure sufficient time is allocated for 
the business of the Committees and the Board and 
that full engagement is possible across all meetings 
from those in attendance. Further, such scheduling 
allowed for more in-depth engagement between the 
Non-executive Directors and the Executive Directors 
and other staff of the Group outside of the formally 
scheduled meetings.

Supplementary meetings of the Board and/or the 
Committees are held as and when necessary in 
response to business needs. In addition, the Board 
(including both Executive and Non-executive 
Directors) met for two formal dinners and the 
Chairman and the Non-executive Directors met 
without the presence of the Executive Directors once 
during the year. 

Not less than five business days prior to each 
scheduled Board meeting, every member of the 
Board receives detailed Board packs, which include 
an agenda based upon the schedule of matters 
reserved for its approval along with appropriate 
reports and briefing papers, save in respect of 
meetings called on short notice or where late papers 
are permitted to be included with the consent of the 
Chairman. If a director is unable to attend a meeting 
due to exceptional circumstances, he or she will 
still receive the supporting papers and will usually 
discuss any matters he or she wishes to raise with the 
Chairman in advance of the meeting. The Company 
Secretary will at all times facilitate access to Board 
meetings by electronic means (videoconference, 
telephone conference or other equivalent methods) 
to ensure maximum attendance at Board meetings 
throughout the year for all Executive and Non-
executive Directors. 

The Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial 
Officer, Company Secretary and Managing Partners 
of the Life Sciences and Technology Partnerships 
(previously the heads of two of the four sectors) work 
together to ensure that the Directors receive relevant 
information to enable them to discharge their duties 
and that such information is accurate, timely and 
clear. This information includes monthly management 
accounts containing an analysis of performance 
against budget and other forecasts, as well as 
monthly reports from each of the Life Sciences and 
Technology Partnerships. Additional information 
is provided as appropriate or if requested. At each 
meeting, the Board receives information, reports and 
presentations from the Chief Executive Officer, the 
other Executive Directors and, by invitation, other 
members of senior management, as required. Going 
forward, given their attendance as observers from 
February 2018, the Board will also receive a report 
direct from each of Managing Partner, Life Sciences 
and Managing Partner, Technology. This ensures 
that all Directors are aware of, and are in a position 
to monitor effectively, the overall performance of 
the Group, its development and implementation of 
strategy, and its management of risk. 

Any matter requiring a decision by the Board is 
supported by a paper analysing the relevant aspects 
of the proposal including costs, benefits, potential 
risks involved and proposed executive management 
action and recommendation.

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Board and committee attendance
The following table shows the attendance of Directors at meetings of the Board, Audit and Risk, Remuneration 
and Nomination Committees during the year:

SCHEDULED  
BOARD MEETINGS

AUDIT  
COMMITTEE

REMUNERATION 
COMMITTEE

NOMINATION
COMMITTEE

Mike Humphrey1

Alan Aubrey

Mike Townend2

Greg Smith1

David Baynes1

Jonathan Brooks

Doug Liversidge

Prof. Lynn Gladden

Dr Elaine Sullivan 3

Prof. David Begg 4

1  Mike Humphrey attended the Audit Committee as an observer.

2  Mr Townend did not attend the board meeting held in July 2017 due to a combination of travel commitments in connection with a business trip 

to the US and the Board meeting being brought forward at short notice in connection with the Touchstone transaction

3 

Including one Board meeting attendance by telephone.

4  Appointed to the Board on 18 October 2017

KEY

 Attended

 Did not attend

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Corporate governance statement CONTINUED

Directors’ conflicts of interest 
Each director has a statutory duty under the 
Companies Act 2006 (the “CA 2006”) to avoid a 
situation in which he or she has, or can have, a direct 
or indirect interest that conflicts or may potentially 
conflict with the interests of the Company. This duty 
is in addition to the continuing duty that a director 
owes to the Company to disclose to the Board any 
transaction or arrangement under consideration by 
the Company in which he or she is interested. The 
Company’s Articles of Association permit the Board 
to authorise conflicts or potential conflicts of interest. 

The Board has established procedures for managing 
and, where appropriate, authorising any such conflicts 
or potential conflicts of interest. It is a recurring 
agenda item at all Board meetings and this gives the 
directors the opportunity to raise at the beginning of 
every Board meeting any actual or potential conflict 
of interests that they may have on the matters to be 
discussed, or to update the Board on any change to a 
previous conflict of interest already declared. 

In deciding whether to authorise any conflict, the 
directors must have regard to their general duties 
under the CA 2006 and their overriding obligation to 
act in a way they consider, in good faith, will be most 
likely to promote the Company’s success. In addition, 
the directors are able to impose limits or conditions 
when giving authorisation to a conflict or potential 
conflict of interest if they think this is appropriate. The 
authorisation of any conflict matter, and the terms 
of any authorisation, may be reviewed by the Board 
at any time. The Board believes that the procedures 
established to deal with conflicts of interest are 
operating effectively.

Induction, awareness and 
development
A comprehensive induction process is in place 
for new directors. The programme is tailored to 
the needs of each individual director and agreed 
with him or her so that he or she can gain a better 
understanding of the Group and its businesses. This 
process includes an overview of the Group and its 
businesses, structure, functions and strategic aims; 
training on key legal matters relevant to the Group 
and its policies (such as matters relevant to Anti-
Bribery and Whistleblowing policies and procedures), 
site visits to the Group’s head office in London and a 
number of the Group’s portfolio companies, including, 
where possible, at least one or more within the 
Group’s top ten holdings (by value), which will include 
(as a minimum) meeting with such companies’ 

management and a presentation from them on their 
businesses. In addition, the Company facilitates 
sessions as appropriate with the Group’s advisers, 
in particular its sponsor Numis Securities Limited, 
as well as with appropriate external governance 
specialists, to ensure that any new directors are fully 
aware of and understand their responsibilities and 
obligations as a director of a FTSE 250 company and 
of the governance and legislative framework within 
which they must operate.

The content of the induction process is regularly re-
evaluated by the Board to ensure it remains tailored 
to the needs of the business of the Group and the 
specific profile of any incoming candidate. Following 
the completion of an induction process for a new 
director, the Company Secretary will seek feedback 
from the relevant incoming director to assist with this 
refreshing of induction processes. 

Following his appointment to the Board in October 
2017 but given his existing in depth knowledge of 
both the Touchstone side of the combined Group and 
its portfolio companies as well as his understanding 
of the combined Group’s business of commercialising 
science (having sat as a non-executive director of 
Touchstone Innovations plc since 20 March 2012), an 
abbreviated induction programme is currently being 
formulated with Professor David Begg to enable him 
to familiarise himself with the key assets on the IP 
Group side of the combined business, as well as its 
international and regulated businesses. 

On an ongoing basis for all Directors, the Company 
Secretary arranges for an external governance 
specialist to attend one Board meeting annually to 
present on the key corporate governance changes 
over the previous 12 months and to signpost expected 
developments going forwards. In addition, the 
Board are kept updated on key legislative changes 
affecting the Group and how the Group is ensuring its 
compliance, including most recently, presentations on 
the preparatory work being undertaken by the Group 
in advance of the implementation of the General Data 
Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the work being 
done in response to the introduction of the corporate 
criminal offences in relation to the failure to prevent 
facilitation of tax evasion. 

In order to ensure that Directors continue to further 
their understanding of the issues facing the Group, 
the Chairman and Non-executive Directors are 
encouraged to continue to visit all of the Group’s 
offices, its portfolio companies and its partner 
universities. Throughout 2018, it is anticipated that 
at least one of the Group’s Board meetings or its 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017strategy day(s) will be held off-site and a day where 
the Non-executive Directors receive presentations 
from management teams of a number of the Group’s 
portfolio companies has been arranged to further this 
objective. In addition, the Board is also exposed to 
the early-stage opportunities in which the Group has 
invested through presentations at Board meetings by 
relevant members of the Group’s staff. In 2018, it is 
intended that further presentations will be provided 
on a rolling basis by members of the newly created 
Life Sciences and Technology Partnerships (in place 
of the sector heads), as well as on the Group’s 
sourcing strategy, and incorporated into the Board 
agenda in order to continue to update the Board on 
progress, to enhance the awareness of the Board as 
to how the Group operates on a day-to-day basis and 
explain how such functions assist in the execution of 
the Group’s core strategy of systematically helping 
create, build and support outstanding intellectual 
property-based businesses.

As a further aspect of their ongoing development, 
each director also receives feedback on his or her 
performance following the Board’s performance 
evaluation in each year and the Chairman reviews 
and agrees with each director their training and 
development needs for the year ahead. Access to 
training and development opportunities, including 
those relevant to the Non-executive Directors’ 
membership on the Board’s Committees, is facilitated 
through the Company Secretary. Details relating to 
the assessment of the Board’s performance are set 
out below.

Board effectiveness and 
performance evaluation
In line with best practice under the Code a 
performance evaluation of the Board, its Committees 
and individual directors is conducted annually to 
ensure that Board performance continues to be 
effective, that each of the directors demonstrates 
commitment to his or her respective role and 
has sufficient time to meet their commitment to 
the Group. Further, the Code requires FTSE 350 
companies to have an externally facilitated evaluation 
at least every three years. 

The Group undertook an externally facilitated 
process of review for the year ended 31 December 
2015 and so its next external review will be due 
towards the end of 2018. Accordingly, the review for 
the year ended 31 December 2017 (the “2017/2018 
Effectiveness Review”) was conducted internally by 
the Company Secretary, with support from Deloitte 
LLP on a limited scope basis. Deloitte LLP has no 
connection to the Group other than the provision of 
ad-hoc advice to the Remuneration Committee and 
the undertaking of prior Board evaluation activities. 

This limited scope of engagement with Deloitte LLP 
for the 2017/2018 Effectiveness Review comprised:

 y The distribution of an on-line internal survey for 

the purposes of assessing Board and Committee 
effectiveness, and including case studies around 
the Group’s fundraising, its commencement of 
business in Australasia and its combination with 
Touchstone Innovations plc; and

 y The completion of an analysis of the online survey 
data and collation of those results, reporting to the 
Company Secretary on the top-line findings. 

The anonymity of all respondents was ensured 
throughout the process in order to encourage an 
open and frank exchange of views. The results were 
collated into a report by Deloitte and shared with the 
Board in February 2018, where the five areas which 
had scored lowest in the survey, as well as specific 
comments which had been made, were debated by 
the Board and certain actions were identified to be 
taken forward as follows: 

 y Deloitte LLP are to provide some guidance on 

what other company boards do by way of setting 
themselves performance specific goals distinct 
from the organisational goals to enable the Board 
to debate this further and settle on any such 
appropriate goals for itself; and 

 y The Company Secretary is to follow up further with 
the Chairman and the Non-executive Directors to 
discuss and agree what changes and/or additions 
they wish to see to the Board meeting agenda 
and papers and what specific reports they wish 
to receive at Board meetings on the combined 
business going forward and/or on each of the 
companies in the enlarged portfolio, from whom 
and the frequency of such reports. 

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As part of its debate, the Board considered the merits 
of holding a mini-strategy day in the first 6 months of 
2018; however, it was agreed that, in order to enable 
the integrated business to properly bed down, it was 
prudent to wait until its annual strategy day(s) in 
October 2018.

Finally, the Board considered the implementation of 
some of the findings of the 2016/2017 review and 
noted the following:

 y In response to feedback regarding individual 

director assessments, an updated format was used 
this year which focuses on four key areas: board 
skills, board behaviours, governance and specific 
roles of the Board and its members; and

 y In response to a request from Board members for 

opportunities to engage more fully with the Group’s 
portfolio companies, a day has been scheduled 
in April 2018 for the Non-executive Directors to 
undertake site visits of a number of portfolio 
companies and to meet and receive presentations 
from members of their management teams.

Overall, it was concluded that the Board continues 
to work effectively, with demonstrable improvements 
being identified from the implementation of the 
findings of the previous year’s review.

Director performance assessment 
and review
In addition to the 2017/2018 Effectiveness Review, 
the Non-executive Directors, led by the Senior 
Independent Director, appraised the Chairman’s 
performance following which the Senior Independent 
Director provided feedback to the Chairman. 

Further, the performance of each of the Non-
executive Directors on the Board is reviewed by the 
Chairman with support from the Company Secretary, 
the performance of the Chief Executive Officer 
is reviewed by the Chairman and the operational 
performance of the other Executive Directors is 
reviewed by the Chief Executive Officer as part 
of the annual appraisal process. In addition to the 
aforementioned annual reviews, the performance 
of the Executive Directors is reviewed by the Board 
on an ongoing basis, as deemed necessary, in the 
absence of the Executive Director under review, in 
order to avoid a conflict of interest.

Director rotation and independence
The Nomination Committee and the Company 
Secretary have agreed a standardised rotation 
schedule for each of the Non-executive Directors 
(including the Chairman), with each being appointed 
for an initial three year term pursuant to the terms 
of their respective letters of appointment; such 
initial three year team is then subject to renewal for 
subsequent three year term(s) and, other than the 
Chairman, to a maximum of three rolling three year 
terms in order to maintain his or her independence 
from a governance perspective in accordance with 
the Code. There is currently no maximum term on 
the Chairman’s appointment but the Nomination 
Committee has agreed to keep this under review in 
light of possible amendments to the Code (currently 
being consulted upon) over the next 12 months. 

During 2017, the second rolling three year terms of 
each of the tenures of Mike Humphrey and Jonathan 
Brooks were up for further renewal and the Board 
approved each of the same upon recommendation of 
the Nomination Committee to this effect.

Committees of the Board
The composition of the three Committees of the Board 
and the attendance of the members throughout the 
year is set out in the table on page 73.

Remuneration and Audit and  
Risk Committees
Separate reports on the role, composition, 
responsibilities and operation of the Remuneration 
Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee 
are set out on pages 80 to 99 and pages 100 to  
104 respectively.

Nomination Committee
The Nomination Committee leads the process 
for Board appointments and the re-election and 
succession of directors and the Chairman. Its key 
objective is to ensure that the Board comprises 
individuals with the necessary skills, knowledge and 
experience to ensure that the Board is effective in 
discharging its duties. 

It is responsible for making recommendations to the 
Board concerning the composition and skills of the 
Board including any changes considered necessary 
in the identification and nomination of new directors, 
the reappointment of existing directors and the 
appointment of members to the Board’s Committees. 
It also assesses the roles of the existing directors in 
office to ensure there continues to be a balanced 
Board in terms of skills, knowledge, experience and 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017diversity. Additionally, the Nomination Committee 
reviews the senior leadership needs of the Group 
which will enable it to compete effectively in the 
marketplace. The Nomination Committee also advises 
the Board on succession planning for Executive 
Director appointments although the Board as a whole 
is responsible for succession generally. 

The Committee is chaired by Mike Humphrey. Its 
other members, as at 31 December 2017, were 
Jonathan Brooks, Professor Lynn Gladden, Professor 
David Begg and Dr Elaine Sullivan, ensuring a 
majority of independent Non-executive Directors 
as prescribed by the Code. To ensure compliance 
with the provisions of the Code, the independence 
of the Committee and to avoid any potential 
conflicts of interest, the Committee has agreed 
that Mike Humphrey will not chair any meetings of 
the Committee dealing with the appointment of a 
successor to the chairmanship of the Group. 

The Nomination Committee meets as and when 
required, or as requested by the Board, and met 
twice during 2017. The attendance by each member 
of the Committee at the meetings during 2017 is 
set out on page 73. The Nomination Committee 
recommended the appointment of Professor David 
Begg as an additional Non-executive Director during 
the year in connection with the Group’s combination 
with Touchstone Innovations. The Committee did not 
appoint an external search consultancy or use open 
advertising in connection with this Non-executive role 
as it saw no benefit in doing so, given its desire for 
the Board to have the advantage of Professor Begg’s 
personal knowledge of the Touchstone business 
and its portfolio following the completion of the 
combination (as explained earlier under “Board size 
and composition”). 

In connection with any future appointments to the 
Board, the Committee will continue to adopt a formal, 
rigorous and transparent procedure, including giving 
full consideration to the balance, skills, knowledge, 
independence and diversity (including gender) 
on the Board in advance of any new search for a 
director to ensure a suitable balance is maintained 
(see paragraph headed “Diversity” on page 69 for a 
further explanation of the considerations made by 
the Committee in this regard). Consideration will also 
always be given to whether identified candidates 
have enough time available to devote to the role. 

Succession Planning
The Nomination Committee recognises that putting 
in place a robust succession planning framework 
is a key factor in ensuring the ongoing, long term 
success of the business of the Group; in mitigating 
the risk of any unforeseen circumstances; and in 
ensuring that changes in Board or senior executive 
positions are effectively managed and do not 
cause significant disruption to the Group. In parallel 
to succession planning at the Board and senior 
executive level, developing internal talent at all levels 
within the Group remains a continuous process. The 
Nomination Committee is responsible for overseeing 
that suitable leadership and talent development plans 
and processes are in place to maximise the potential 
of the Group’s employees and that the Group has 
effective recruitment policies to continue to attract 
and retain talented employees.

During 2017, the Group’s HR Director continued to 
work with the Nomination Committee to further 
advance the Group’s approach to succession planning 
although it was acknowledged at the Committee’s 
meeting in December 2017 that the formalised plan 
which had been prepared in 2016 by the Group’s 
HR Director in consultation with the Chairman, 
the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, and Company 
Secretary would require a detailed review and 
updating to reflect the Board and senior management 
structure of the combined Group following the 
Touchstone Innovations combination. It is intended 
that this review work will be commenced in March 
2018, led by the Group’s HR Director in consultation 
with the Chairman and others as necessary subject to 
the succession matter in question. 

In addition, the Committee together with the Group’s 
HR Director is responsible for developing and 
monitoring the Group’s own internal talent pipeline. 
Whilst it is the opinion of the Committee that sound 
systems and procedures are already in place to 
ensure the development of the Group’s employees 
at all levels of the organisation, the Committee along 
with the Executive Directors will continue to oversee 
further enhancement of the same for the staff of the 
enlarged Group during 2018, with support from the 
HR Director and her team. 

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Our Governance OverviewCorporate governance statement CONTINUED

Internal control
The Board fully recognises the importance of the 
Financial Reporting Council’s Guidance on Risk 
Management, Internal Control and Related Financial 
and Business Reporting. The Group’s internal controls, 
which are Group-wide and were in place during the 
whole of 2017, were reviewed by the Board and were 
considered to be effective throughout the year ended 
31 December 2017. 

The Board is responsible for establishing and 
monitoring internal control systems and for reviewing 
the effectiveness of these systems. The Board views 
the effective operation of a rigorous system of 
internal control as critical to the success of the Group. 
However, it recognises that such systems can provide 
only reasonable and not absolute assurance against 
material misstatement or loss. The key elements of 
the Group’s internal control system, all of which have 
been in place during the financial year and are up 
to the date when these financial statements were 
approved, are as follows:

Control environment and procedures
The Group has a clear organisational structure with 
defined responsibilities and accountabilities. It adopts 
the highest values surrounding quality, integrity 
and ethics, and these values are documented 
and communicated clearly throughout the whole 
organisation. 

Detailed written policies and procedures have been 
established covering key operating and compliance 
risk areas. These are reviewed and updated at least 
annually by the Board. The Board considers that the 
controls have been effective for the year ended 31 
December 2017.

Identification and evaluation of 
principal risks and uncertainties
The operations of the Group and the implementation 
of its objectives and strategy are subject to a number 
of key risks and uncertainties. The Board actively 
identifies and evaluates the risks inherent in the 
business, formally reviews these on at least an annual 
basis (or as market or business developments require) 
and ensures that appropriate controls and procedures 
are in place to monitor and, where possible, mitigate 
these risks. Specifically, all decisions relating to 
strategic partnerships and other collaborations and 
strategic acquisitions and disposals entered into 
by the Group are reserved for the Board’s review 
and approval. The Board formally reviews the 
performance of the Group’s university partnerships 

and other strategic collaborations and relationships. 
In order to ensure the effective facilitation of this 
review the Board receives a formal presentation and 
update from the Group’s Managing Director, New 
Business and Partnerships Team annually alongside 
regular reporting within the regular Board papers on 
a rolling agenda basis. 

The Board also reviews equity investments on a 
quarterly basis, although performance of specific 
investments may be reviewed more frequently if 
deemed appropriate dependent on their relative size 
as regards the aggregate portfolio as a whole. 

The Board maintains an up-to-date Register of Risks 
setting out mitigations in place in each case. The 
key risks and uncertainties faced by the Group, as 
well as the relevant mitigations, are set out on pages 
48 to 53. Were more than one of the risks to occur 
together, the overall impact on the Group may 
be compounded.

Information and financial  
reporting systems
The Group evaluates and manages significant 
risks associated with the process for preparing 
consolidated accounts by having in place systems 
and controls that ensure adequate accounting 
records are maintained and transactions are recorded 
accurately and fairly to permit the preparation of 
financial statements in accordance with IFRS. The 
Board approves the annual operating budgets and 
receives details of actual performance measured 
against the budget each month. 

Relations with shareholders
The Company is committed to a continuous dialogue 
with shareholders as it believes that it is essential 
to ensure amongst its shareholders a greater 
understanding of, and confidence in, the short, 
medium and longer term strategy of the Group and 
in the Board’s ability to oversee its implementation. 
It is the responsibility of the Board as a whole to 
ensure that a satisfactory dialogue takes place. The 
Board’s primary shareholder contact is through the 
Chairman, the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief 
Investment Officer, the Chief Operating Officer and 
the Chief Financial Officer. The Board’s primary 
contact with the limited partners and advisory boards 
of its managed funds is through the Chief Investment 
Officer and the Chief Executive Officer. The Senior 
Independent Director and other Directors make 
themselves available, as appropriate, for contact 
with major shareholders and other stakeholders 
in order to understand their issues and concerns. 

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Our Governance Committee Reports

Where considered appropriate, major institutional 
shareholders are consulted on significant changes 
to the Board and the structure of the Executive 
Directors’ remuneration. In addition, during 2017, the 
Executives Directors and the Chairman had various 
dialogue with major shareholders in connection with 
the Touchstone combination in order to develop an 
understanding of their views. These views were then 
communicated to the Board as a whole so they could 
be considered during the Board discussions and 
deliberations in connection with the transaction.

The Company uses the Annual General Meeting 
(“AGM”) as an opportunity to communicate with its 
shareholders. Notice of the AGM, which will be held 
at 10.30am on 18 June 2018 at IP Group plc, The 
Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, EC4N 8AF 
is enclosed with this report. In line with the Code, the 
Notice of AGM will be sent to shareholders at least 
20 working days before the meeting. Details of the 
resolutions and the explanatory notes thereto are 
included with the Notice. To ensure compliance with 
the Code, the Board proposes separate resolutions 
for each issue and proxy forms allow shareholders 
who are unable to attend the AGM to vote for or 
against or to withhold their vote on each resolution. 
The results of all proxy voting are published on the 
Group’s website after the meeting and declared at 
the meeting itself to those shareholders who attend. 
Shareholders who attend the AGM will have the 
opportunity to ask questions and all directors are 
expected to be available to take questions. 

The Group’s website (www.ipgroupplc.com) is the 
primary source of information on the Group. The 
website includes an overview of the activities of 
the Group; details of its portfolio companies, and 
its key university partnerships and other strategic 
collaborations; and details of all recent Group and 
portfolio announcements.

Political expenditure
Although it is the Board’s policy not to incur political 
expenditure or otherwise make cash contributions to 
political parties, and it has no intention of changing 
that policy, the CA 2006 is very broadly drafted in 
this area and the Board has raised a concern that it 
may include activities such as funding conferences or 
supporting certain bodies involved in policy review 
and law reform. Accordingly, at the AGM held on 10 
May 2017 as per previous AGMs, the shareholders 
passed a resolution on a precautionary basis to 
authorise the Group to incur political expenditure (as 
defined in Section 365 of CA 2006) not exceeding 
£50,000 in total at any time from 10 May 2017 up to 
the conclusion of the 2018 AGM. The Board intends 
to seek renewed authority for the Group to incur 
political expenditure of not more than £50,000 in total 
at the Company’s 2018 AGM, to be held on 18 June 
2018, which they might otherwise be prohibited from 
making or incurring under the terms of CA 2006.

Going concern
The Directors confirm that they have a reasonable 
expectation that the Group will have adequate 
resources to continue in operational existence for 
the foreseeable future and accordingly they continue 
to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the 
financial statements.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

MIKE HUMPHREY
CHAIRMAN

29 March 2018

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ remuneration report
REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Evolving our principles of remuneration  
to create a more attractive employment 
proposition for the enlarged Group. 
JONATHAN BROOKS CHAIRMAN OF THE REMUNERATION COMMITTEE

On behalf of your Board, I am pleased to present our 
Directors’ Remuneration Report (“DRR”) for the year 
ended 31 December 2017. 

The Committee considers that these outcomes reflect 
the Committee’s ‘pay for performance’ principles and 
the stretching, objective incentive targets.

2017 Performance and  
incentive out-turns
The Group’s Return on Hard NAV for 2017 was 
£64.1m, a significant improvement on the negative 
£7.6m return for 2016. The acquisition of Touchstone 
completed in October 2017. The Committee decided 
that the one-off acquisition and restructuring costs of 
£9.1m relating to the Touchstone combination as well 
as the £0.3m uplift in the Touchstone NAV between 
completion and 31 December 2017 should be excluded 
from the determination of the Return on Hard NAV 
for the purposes of the 2017 award. The resulting AIS 
outturn for 2017 is 57.3% of maximum opportunity.

In contrast, the cumulative three-year return on the 
Group’s Hard NAV did not meet the 8% per annum 
threshold target for the Group’s 2015 LTIP awards 
scheduled to vest in March 2018. Further, while the 
actual absolute Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”) 
performance period for the 2015 LTIP awards runs until 
31 March 2018, based on the Group’s share price at the 
date of this report, the minimum 8% annualised return 
has not been met. As a result, it is currently anticipated 
that none of the 2015 awards will vest.

We provide transparent disclosure of our annual bonus 
performance targets on both a retrospective and, 
where appropriate, prospective basis. Details of the 
annual bonus targets for 2017 and forward-looking 
targets for 2018 are contained in this report.

Remuneration Principles
The enlargement of the Group in 2017 necessitated 
a review of our existing approach across the entire 
senior management team to ensure our principles 
of remuneration continued to be appropriate. We 
have reviewed our remuneration approach and are 
pleased to conclude that, in general terms, the existing 
remuneration principles did not require fundamental 
change though it was necessary to rebalance the 
incentive components of remuneration for some senior 
managers as well as modifying the blend of individual 
and team performance targets in determining AIS 
outcomes. No changes were proposed, however, for 
the longer term incentive plans, which for executive 
directors and managers remains the LTIP, while those 
employees most able to influence portfolio company 
performance (excluding Executive Directors) also 
participate in the Long Term Incentive Carry Scheme 
(“LTICS”).

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Our Governance Committee Reports

The framework for our executive directors is summarised below: 

Salary

 y Typically, salaries approach the bottom end of a market competitive range for similar 

sized companies

Pension 

 y 10% of salary contribution to Company defined contribution plan, personal pension plan 

or cash equivalent

AIS

 y Maximum 100% of salary 
 y Based on stretching return on Hard NAV targets disclosed retrospectively and 

LTIP 

prospectively and other relevant ‘leading indicators’ of performance as determined by 
the Committee each year

 y Half of any bonus above a minimum amount deferred into equity over two-year period
 y AIS arrangements cascade to all employees in the business

 y Annual awards of 300% of salary (CEO) and 200% of salary (other executive directors) 
 y Based on stretching Hard NAV and TSR growth targets (with a relative TSR underpin)
 y Includes a two-year post-vesting holding period 
 y LTIP arrangements will no longer cascade to all employees in the business but will be 

reserved for managerial levels and roles which are expected to have a material financial 
impact on the Group’s outcomes.

Shareholding 
guidelines

 y 200% of salary (CEO) and 150% (other executive directors)

Clawback 

 y Comprehensive clawback provisions on all variable elements

Executive Directors’ base salaries for 2018
As described in the 2016 Remuneration Report the salaries of the executive directors have been increased using 
a phased approach over several years to reach a level close to the lower quartile when compared to a peer group 
of companies of similar size and complexity. Although the Group increased significantly in size and complexity 
during 2017, the Committee decided that increases in base salaries for 2018 should not exceed the average 
increase awarded to other UK-based employees at this juncture. Instead it decided to review the salaries of the 
executive directors only after all of the organisational changes associated with the enlargement of the Group 
had been established. The Committee therefore expects to review the Executive Directors’ remuneration in the 
second half of 2018 to ensure they remain market-competitive.

The average increase in base salaries for employees in 2018 is 4%. The Committee has determined that the 
base pay increases for the executive directors, to be implemented in April 2018, will be lower than the average 
for the wider employee population as follows:

 y The CEO’s base salary will be increased by 3.8% to £415,000;

 y The other Executive Directors’ salaries will be increased by 3.8% to £275,000.

More detail on the executive director salary increases is set out on page 88.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Structure of this report
The following pages contain an extract of our 
Remuneration Policy (as approved by shareholders), 
a summary of how we intend to implement the policy 
during 2018, and the detailed disclosure of outcomes 
in respect of 2017. 

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

JONATHAN BROOKS
CHAIRMAN OF THE REMUNERATION COMMITTEE

29 March 2018

Executive Directors’ AIS and  
LTIP opportunities
There will be no change to the maximum AIS or 
LTIP opportunities for 2018. However, for 2018, in 
addition to basing the AIS on the improvement in 
‘Hard NAV’ the Committee is introducing three further 
components that it considers are ‘leading indicators’ 
of underlying business performance. These measures 
are (i) cash realisations from the portfolio, (ii) third 
party capital raised by portfolio companies, and (iii) 
the level of net operating expenses.

Committee Chairmanship
As I described in last year’s report, my intention 
was to stand down as Chair of the Remuneration 
Committee during 2017. The Nominations Committee 
have now determined that Professor Lynn Gladden, 
who has been a member of the Remuneration 
Committee since 2014, will assume the role of 
Chair with effect from the date of the Group’s 2018 
AGM. I will remain a member of the Committee and 
look forward to continuing to work with Professor 
Gladden to further develop and monitor the Group’s 
remuneration strategy.

Approval of the Remuneration 
Report in 2017
The 2016 Directors’ Remuneration Report received 
98.9% of votes cast in favour at our AGM in May 2017 
and, while this indicated a strong level of support, the 
Group remains as committed as ever to engagement 
and transparency and I welcome the opportunity for 
continued discussion of the Group’s remuneration 
with any shareholder, either at our AGM or at any 
other time during the year. I know that Professor 
Gladden shares this view and would herself welcome 
discussion on the Group’s remuneration. 

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Directors’ remuneration report
REMUNERATION POLICY AND COMPONENTS

The Remuneration Policy was approved at the AGM held on 12 May 2016 and was effective as of that date. An 
extract of the policy table for executive directors contained in that policy is re-produced below for information 
only. The full Remuneration Policy is contained on pages 65 to 74 of the 2015 annual report which is available 
in the investor relations section of the Group’s website.

Where relevant, references previously to 2015 or 2016 have been updated to reflect the application in 2016, 
2017 and 2018.

Remuneration Policy table
The table below sets out the key components of the Policy for Executive Directors’ remuneration:

Component

Salary

Purpose and 
link to strategy

To provide an 
appropriate level of 
fixed cash income 
to attract and 
retain individuals 
with the personal 
attributes, skills and 
experience required 
to deliver the 
Group’s strategy

Performance 
metrics

None, although 
performance of 
the individual is 
considered by 
the Committee 
when setting and 
reviewing salaries 
annually.

How this component of 

Maximum opportunity

Generally reviewed annually 
with increases currently 
effective from 1 April. 

Base salaries will be set by the 
Committee taking into account:

 y

 y

scale, scope and 
responsibility of the role;

skills and experience of the 
individual;

 y

retention risk;

 y base salary of other 

employees;

 y base salary of individuals 

undertaking similar roles in 
companies of comparable 
size and complexity; and

 y

appropriate market 
benchmarks.

There is no prescribed 
maximum annual salary.

Annual salary increases for 
executive directors will not 
normally exceed the average 
increase awarded to other UK-
based employees.

Increases may be above this 
level in circumstances where 
the Committee considers it 
appropriate, for example if 
there is an increase in the 
scale, scope or responsibility 
of the role or to allow the base 
salary of recently appointed 
executives who are appointed 
on initially lower levels of base 
salary to move towards market 
norms as their experience and 
contribution increase.

Where a significant discrepancy 
exists between an executive 
director’s current salary and 
market levels, the Committee 
will normally phase any 
increases over a number of 
years. Following shareholder 
consultation in 2015, the 
Committee has implemented 
a number of phased salary 
increases to executive directors 
over 2015 – 2018.

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REMUNERATION POLICY AND COMPONENTS

Component

Pension

Benefits

Purpose and 
link to strategy

Provide a 
competitive post-
retirement benefit in 
a way that manages 
the overall cost to 
the Group in order 
to retain individuals 
with the personal 
attributes, skills and 
experience required 
to deliver the 
Group’s strategy

Provide a 
competitive and 
appropriate benefits 
package to assist 
individuals in 
carrying out their 
duties effectively 
and to retain 
individuals with 
the personal 
attributes, skills and 
experience required 
to deliver the 
Group’s strategy

Performance 
metrics

Not applicable

Not applicable

How this component of 

Maximum opportunity

Maximum pension is 15% of 
base salary, however current 
operation is 10% of base salary 
for all executive directors.

The cost of benefits provided 
changes in accordance with 
market conditions and will, 
therefore, determine the 
maximum amount that would 
be paid in the form of benefits 
under the Policy. There is 
therefore no overall maximum 
opportunity under this 
component of the Policy.

One-off benefits, e.g. relocation, 
shall not ordinarily exceed 
25% of base salary other than 
in exceptional circumstances 
at the discretion of the 
Committee.

Maximum awards under all 
employee share plans would be 
subject to prevailing statutory 
limit.

Contribution to Group Pension 
Plan (defined contribution 
scheme) or to personal pension 
plan of the relevant executive’s 
choosing or an equivalent cash 
alternative.

No element other than base 
salary is pensionable.

Ongoing benefits typically 
comprise, but are not 
limited to, health and travel 
insurance, income protection 
and life assurance and may 
also comprise a car benefit 
(or cash equivalent) and 
telecommunications such as 
broadband. 

The Group also offers certain 
salary sacrifice schemes 
including childcare vouchers, 
purchase of additional holiday 
and Ride to Work.

Executive directors may also 
participate in any all-employee 
share plans that may be 
operated by the Group from 
time to time on the same terms 
as other employees.

Additional benefits, which 
may include relocation 
expenses, housing allowance 
or other benefits-in-kind, 
may be provided in certain 
circumstances if considered 
appropriate and reasonable 
by the Committee, including 
as may be required on 
recruitment.

84

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Performance 
metrics

Specific targets and 
weightings will vary 
from year to year 
in accordance with 
strategic priorities 
but may include 
targets relating to:

 y Relative or 

absolute TSR;

 y Hard net assets; 

 y Financial 

performance;

 y Appropriate 
non-financial 
measures; and

 y Attainment 
of personal 
objectives.

 y Weighting will 
be primarily 
towards Group 
financial 
performance.

 y Performance 

will typically be 
measured over 
one year.

Component

Purpose and 
link to strategy

How this component of 

Maximum opportunity

The maximum annual level of 
award is 100% of salary.

Given the Group’s salary year 
currently runs from 1 April to 
31 March, the base salary used 
will normally be that which is in 
effect at the end of the annual 
financial year to which the 
award relates.

Annual 
Incentive 
Scheme 
(“AIS”)

To provide a 
simple, competitive, 
performance-linked 
annual incentive 
mechanism that will:

 y

attract, retain 
and motivate 
individuals with 
the required 
personal 
attributes, skills 
and experience;

 y provide a 

 y

real incentive 
to achieve 
our strategic 
objectives; and

align the 
interests of 
management 
and 
shareholders.

The AIS is reviewed annually 
prior to the start of each 
financial year to ensure 
the detailed performance 
measures and weightings are 
appropriate and continue to 
support the business strategy. 
Financial and/or non-financial 
performance targets are set 
at or around the start of each 
financial year.

Actual AIS amounts are 
determined via a two-stage 
process. Firstly, performance 
against the agreed metrics 
is assessed. Secondly, the 
Committee reviews these 
results in the context 
of underlying business 
performance and the Group’s 
financial position and may 
adjust the stage one outcome 
at its discretion.

Subject to a suitable minimum 
amount, set by the Committee 
at the start of each year, awards 
will typically be payable 50% 
in cash and 50% in IP Group 
shares. The share element is in 
the form of conditional awards 
of shares or nil-cost options (or 
equivalent at the Committee’s 
discretion) and is subject to 
further time-based vesting over 
two years (50% after year 1 
and 50% after year 2) although 
the Committee may adjust 
the % split between cash and 
shares based on the financial 
position of the Group. The IP 
Group shares element shall be 
satisfied by awards of options 
under the deferred bonus share 
plan (“DBSP”).

In the case of intended fraud 
or misconduct by a participant 
that contributes to a significant 
error in financial information, 
the Company will be entitled to 
claw back the value of any cash 
amount paid under the AIS 
for that year and to cancel the 
vesting of any deferred share 
element, for a period of up to 
three years following the date 
of award or payment.

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85

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
REMUNERATION POLICY AND COMPONENTS

Component

Long-term 
incentive 
plan (“LTIP”)

Purpose and 
link to strategy

To provide a 
competitive, 
performance-linked 
long-term incentive 
mechanism that will:

 y

attract, retain 
and motivate 
individuals with 
the required 
personal 
attributes, skills 
and experience;

 y provide a 

 y

real incentive 
to achieve 
our strategic 
objectives; and

align the 
interests of 
management 
and 
shareholders.

How this component of 

Maximum opportunity

The maximum annual level of 
award is:

 y 300% of salary for the Chief 

executive officer; and

 y

a lower percentage for 
other Executive Directors

Each year the Committee 
determines the annual award 
for each executive director 
within the above Policy limits. 

The award level for 2018 shall 
continue to be 300% of the 
2018/19 base salary for the 
Chief Executive Officer and 
200% for all other executive 
directors. 

The overall maximum under the 
LTIP approved by shareholders 
is 400% of salary. However, the 
policy limits set out above will 
apply and this plan limit will 
only be used in exceptional 
circumstances (such as a 
buyout on recruitment or where 
an award could not be made in 
the relevant year and needs to 
be made in a subsequent year).

The LTIP is reviewed annually 
prior to the start of each 
financial year to ensure 
the detailed performance 
measures and weightings are 
appropriate and continue to 
support the business strategy. 
Financial and/or non-financial 
performance targets are set 
at or around the start of each 
financial year.

Awards under the LTIP typically 
comprise conditional awards 
of shares in IP Group (although 
instruments with similar 
economic effect may be used if 
considered appropriate). 

From the 2013 LTIP awards 
onwards any share awards 
that vest, net of any tax and 
NICs liabilities, are subject to 
a further holding period. The 
holding period was one year for 
the 2013 LTIP and two years for 
subsequent awards. 

In the case of intended fraud 
or misconduct by a participant 
that contributes to a significant 
error in financial information 
the Company will be entitled to 
reduce the number of shares in 
respect of an unvested award 
and/or claw back any shares 
subject to the post vesting 
holding period.

Calculations of the achievement 
of the vesting targets are 
reviewed and approved by the 
Committee.

Performance 
metrics

Specific targets may 
vary from year to 
year in accordance 
with strategic 
priorities but shall 
be based on:

 y Relative or 

absolute TSR; 
and 

 y Hard net assets.

These performance 
criteria shall be 
presented in a 
matrix format 
similar to that set 
out in the Annual 
Remuneration 
Report.

The level of vesting 
for threshold 
performance is 30% 
of the maximum.

Where absolute 
TSR is used as a 
performance metric, 
awards may be 
subject to a relative 
performance 
underpin against 
an appropriate 
benchmark index or 
comparator group.

Performance 
will ordinarily be 
measured based 
on a performance 
period of at least 
three years.

86

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Directors’ remuneration report
ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Incentives
As described above, in 2016 the Committee 
implemented a change in the variable earning 
opportunity for the executive directors consistent 
with our ‘pay for performance’ and ‘low base/ 
high long-term variable’ approach to executive 
remuneration and intends to continue to apply the 
same approach in 2018. 

Consistent with the maximum opportunity for the 
2017 LTIP awards, the 2018 LTIP awards will continue 
to be made at 300% of base salary for the CEO and 
200% of base salary for all other Executive Directors. 
Performance will continue to be assessed against 
growth in Hard NAV and TSR performance (with the 
underpin based on relative TSR against the FTSE 
250) as per the vesting tables for the 2015 LTIP set 
out on page 89. Any awards that vest, net of any tax 
and NICs liabilities, will continue to be subject to a 
further two-year holding period.

The maximum AIS opportunity will remain at 100% 
of base salary for all Executive Directors. The 2017 
AIS had a single performance measure, being the 
annual return achieved on the Group’s Hard NAV. The 
Committee considers that it remains appropriate for 
a significant proportion of the AIS to be based on 
this performance measure since it is one of the most 
important metrics on which to judge the underlying 
success of the business. However, for 2018 the 
Committee is introducing three further components 
that it considers are ‘leading indicators’ of underlying 
business performance. These measures are (i) cash 
realisations from the portfolio, (ii) third party capital 
raised by portfolio companies, and (iii) the level of 
net operating expenses. In line with the Group’s 
Remuneration Policy, in excess of 50% of the AIS 
performance will be based on annual return on  
Hard NAV.

Statement of implementation of 
remuneration policy in the following 
financial year
Following the extensive consultation with 
shareholders undertaken during 2015 and early 
2016, we undertook phased changes to certain of 
the Executive Directors’ base salaries so that from 
2017/18 they would be around lower quartile of a peer 
group of companies of a similar size and complexity 
to the Group. In addition, new Executive Directors’ 
LTIP opportunities were implemented reflecting our 
performance-based philosophy with a focus on the 
long term and consistent with a ‘lower base/higher 
variable’ approach.

Salary and fixed components
With effect from 1 April 2018, the base salaries of the 
Executive Directors will be: 

2018/19 
base salary

% 

Alan Aubrey (CEO)

£415,000

3.8% (£15,000)

Mike Townend (CIO)

£275,000

3.8% (£10,000)

Greg Smith (CFO)

£275,000

3.8% (£10,000)

David Baynes (COO)

£275,000

3.8% (£10,000)

As has been the case for a number of years, the 
Committee considers that, as part of a competitive 
overall package, base salaries should be within a 
market-competitive range. Given IP Group’s business 
model and stage of development, this is currently 
considered to be within lower quartile to median of 
companies of a similar size and complexity. 

While the Group has significantly increased in 
size and complexity during, the Committee has 
determined that it will continue with its previously-
stated approach as set out in the Remuneration 
Policy whereby any increases will not normally exceed 
the average increase awarded to other UK-based 
employees. For context, the average increase across 
all employees in the UK business, excluding executive 
directors and new joiners, was higher than the 
executive director population at 4.86% in 2017 and is 
anticipated to be approximately 6.35% for 2018. The 
Committee intends to review the Executive Directors’ 
base salaries later in 2018 to ensure they remain 
market-competitive.

Pension and benefits will continue to be in line with 
the levels stated in the policy table. 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

87

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

As in prior years, the Committee has determined the 
performance metrics that are required to be achieved. 
In terms of the Return on Hard NAV target, as before 
the Committee has taken into consideration the 
blend of assets that constitute the Group Hard NAV, 
particularly the relative level of cash on which it is 
not currently possible to achieve a return in excess 
of approximately 1%. Reflecting our commitment to 
transparency, we are again disclosing this AIS target 
on a prospective basis. For 2018, the Committee 
has determined that threshold vesting for this 
of 25% of the maximum award will be available 
provided a minimum return of 6% is achieved while 
the maximum awards pool will be available should 
a return of 16% or greater be achieved. In absolute 
terms, this requires the achievement of a return on 
hard NAV in excess of £80m before any AIS may be 
awarded and a return in excess of £210m in order 
for full awards to be made. The targets relating to 

the additional measures outline above, as well as the 
performance against these targets, will be disclosed 
in the 2018 Directors’ Remuneration Report. Overall, 
the targets are considered by the Committee to 
be appropriately stretching, particularly in light of 
the 2017 performance out-turns and the current 
economic climate.

Chairman and Non-Executive 
Directors
The fees for the Chairman for 2018/19 shall be 
£156,000, a 4.0% increase from the annual fee 
since his appointment in 2015. The fees of the 
Non-Executive Directors will be increased to 
£43,500 reflecting a 3.6% increase compared to 
2017/18. Additional fees for chairmanship of a board 
committee, or for being senior independent director, 
shall increase to £10,000. 

Single figure for total remuneration (audited)
The following table sets out the single figure for total remuneration for Directors for the financial years ended 
31 December 2016 and 2017.

All £000s

2017

2016

2017

2016

2017

2016

2017

2016

2017

2016

2017

2016

Base salary/fees

Benefits

Pension1

Annual Bonus 
(AIS)2

LTIP3

Total

Executive Directors

Alan Aubrey4

Mike Townend

Greg Smith

David Baynes5

Non-executive 
directors

Mike Humphrey

Jonathan Brooks

Doug Liversidge

Lynn Gladden

Elaine Sullivan

David Begg7

284

263

259

263

232

254

232

254

150

150

57

50

42

42

9

55

47

40

40

—

6

8

5

10

46

—
16

—
16

—

4

7

5

17

3

—

1

—

1

—

33

23

27

27

—

—

—

—

—

—

29

23

23

25

—

—

—

—

—

—

229

152

152

152

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— 552

— 446

— 443

— 452

265

284

260

296

—

—

—

—

—

—

154

57

51

42

43

9

153

55

48

40

41

—

1 

Pension includes payments made to defined contribution schemes on behalf of the Directors or the value of any cash equivalent if applicable.

2  The Group did not achieve the threshold performance level required for there to be an AIS bonus pool in 2016. AIS Bonus reflects total award value 
however any awards are payable 50% in cash and 50% in IP Group shares, with the share element subject to time-based vesting over two years.

3  The LTIP values for 2017 are based on none of the 2015 LTIP awards vesting in March 2018 based on the performance conditions at 23 March 
2017. The 2014 LTIPs did not vest in 2016. Further information about the level of vesting for both of these awards is provided in the additional 
disclosures section pages 89 and 90.

4 

In addition, Alan Aubrey retained board fees in 2017 totalling £102,499 (2016: £101,667) from portfolio companies in which the Group is a 
shareholder and that were deducted from his base salary, as described further under “Outside appointments for executive directors” on page 86.

5  David Baynes received reimbursement of certain travel costs considered commensurate with a car allowance, which were subject to PAYE/NI.

6  Commuting costs for Non-Executive Directors are reimbursed and are subject to PAYE/NI.

7  Prof. David Begg joined the Group’s Board on 18 October 2017.

88

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Additional disclosures for single 
figure for total remuneration table 
(audited)
Annual incentive scheme 
The targets for the 2017 AIS were solely financial in 
nature and were based on the annual return on hard 
net assets (i.e. excluding intangible assets) which 
were £706.5m at 31 December 2016. The targets for 
2017 and the outturn against these were as follows: 

Performance 
condition

Return on 
Hard NAV

Vesting criteria

Actual 
Performance

6% return (£42.4m): 25% 
of maximum opportunity 
(“threshold”)16% return 
(£113.0m): 100% of 
maximum opportunity

10.3% return 
(£73.2m): 
57.3% of 
maximum 
opportunity

As shown previously, the Group’s Return on Hard NAV 
for 2017, including acquisition and restructuring costs 
of £9.1m, was £64.1m, a significant improvement on 
the negative £7.6m return for 2016. The acquisition 
of Touchstone completed in October 2017. The 
Committee decided that these one-off costs relating 
to the Touchstone combination as well as the £0.3m 
uplift in the Touchstone NAV between completion 
and 31 December 2017 should be excluded from the 
determination of the Return on Hard NAV for the 
purposes of the 2017 award. The resulting Return 
on Hard NAV for 2017 is 10.3% and the Committee 
allocated 57.3% of the total available award pool. In 
accordance with the Group’s Remuneration Policy, 
all amounts to individuals above an initial minimum 
amount paid in cash, which for the 2017 AIS will be 
£25,000, will be paid 50% in cash and 50% in shares 
(deferred over two years using the Group’s DBSP).

Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Long-term incentive scheme
2015 LTIP awards due to vest in March 2018
The 2015 LTIP awards are based on the performance 
of the Group’s Hard NAV (the Group’s net assets 
excluding intangibles and the Oxford Equity Rights 
asset) for the three financial years ending on 31 
December 2017 and Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”) 
from March 2015 to the ordinary vesting date, being 
31 March 2018, using a one-month average. Both 
performance measures are combined into a matrix 
format as per the vesting table below. The total 
award is subject to an underpin based on the relative 
performance of the Group’s TSR to that of the FTSE 
250 index, which can reduce the awards by up to 50%.

Vesting matrix: estimated 2015 LTIP out-turn

.

)
.
a
p
(
R
S
T

15%

10%

8%

<8%

60%

30%

15%

0%

<8%

75%

45%

30%

15%

8%

90%

60%

45%

30%

10%

100%

90%

75%

60%

15%

Growth in NAV (p.a.)

Performance 
condition

Target  
Performance

Actual/forecast 
Performance

Hard NAV1  
(at 31 Dec 2017)

8%: £1,369m
15%: £1,540m

£1,326m
(6% p.a. growth)

Annual TSR2 
(share price)

8%: 261p
15%: 12p

106p
(-22% p.a. growth)

Comparative  
TSR

FTSE 250
+14.5%

IP Group
-51%

1  Hard NAV target increased by Committee to reflect £385.1m 

Touchstone Hard net assets acquired in 2017 and net proceeds of 
£359.9m from the Group’s 2015 and 2017 placings.

2  TSR performance shown reflects the Group’s one-month average 

share price to 23 March 2018. Actual performance period is the one-
month average to 31 March 2018. 

The actual performance of the Group in terms of Hard 
NAV growth was below threshold and based on the 
1-month average share price to 23 March 2018, was 
below the lower TSR target and that of the FTSE 250 
TSR performance. On this basis, the 2015 LTIP award 
is not expected to meet the minimum performance 
criteria required for vesting. The amounts disclosed 
above in the single remuneration figure table are 
based on this performance and resulting expected 
outcome. Actual vesting will be based on TSR 
performance to 31 March 2018.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

89

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com  
Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

2014 LTIP awards that were due to vest in 
March 2017
The following table sets out the outcomes of the 
performance measures relating to the 2014 LTIP 
awards against the vesting criteria. 

Vesting matrix: actual 2014 LTIP out-turn

.

)
.
a
p
(
R
S
T

15%

10%

8%

<8%

60%

30%

15%

0%

<8%

75%

45%

30%

15%

8%

90%

60%

45%

30%

10%

100%

90%

75%

60%

15%

Growth in NAV (p.a.)

Performance 
condition

Target 
Performance

Actual 
Performance

Hard NAV1 
(at 31 Dec 2016)

8%: £750m
15%: £885m

Annual TSR2
(share price)

Comparative 
TSR2

8%: 266p
15%: 321p

FTSE 250
+28%

£706m
(6% p.a. growth)

158p
(-8% p.a. growth)

IP Group
-25%

1  Hard NAV target increased by Committee to reflect £21.7m Fusion 
IP net assets acquired in 2014 and £276.1m net proceeds of the 
Group’s placings in 2014 and 2015.

2  Group TSR performance based on the one-month average to  

31 March 2017. 

As can be seen from the performance outcomes 
table, the Hard NAV growth performance measure 
and Group’s Annual TSR did not meet the minimum 
threshold performance. Based on the vesting matrix, 
this resulted in none of the 2014 awards vesting. 

2017 LTIP awards 
The 2017 LTIP awards were made based on 29 
August 2017 with a face value of 300% of salary for 
the CEO and 200% of salary for other Executive 
Directors, based on the share price at date of grant 
and vesting subject to performance. Awards are 
calculated by reference to the salary effective for the 
2017/18 salary year. Any conditionally-awarded shares 
that vest (net of tax) shall be subject to a two-year 
holding period.

The performance conditions that apply to both of 
these awards will follow the same matrix structure 
with the same vesting parameters as that set out 
above for the previous awards. Hard NAV growth 
will be measured over the three-year period to 31 
December 2019 (starting point: £706.5m). TSR would 
ordinarily be measured from the day before the date 
of award (in this case 30 August 2017) to 31 March 
2020 with a one-month average however given the 
one month average at this time was lower than the 
Group’s recent placing price of 140p, the Committee 
determined that the performance condition should 
be based on this higher starting point of 140p. The 
underpin will be with reference to TSR performance 
against the FTSE 250 over this same period. Similarly, 
the number of conditional LTIP awards granted for 
the Executive Directors was calculated based on the 
140p placing price rather than the 115.1p closing price 
on the day before the awards were made.

Executive Director

Type of 
interest

Basis of award 
(% salary)

Face value1 
(000s)

Threshold 
vesting2

End of performance period

Alan Aubrey

2017 LTIP

Mike Townend

2017 LTIP

Greg Smith

2017 LTIP

David Baynes

2017 LTIP

300%

200%

200%

200%

£1,200

£530

£530

£530

30%

30%

30%

30%

31 Dec 2019 (NAV) / 31 Mar 2020 (TSR)

31 Dec 2019 (NAV) / 31 Mar 2020 (TSR)

31 Dec 2019 (NAV) / 31 Mar 2020 (TSR)

31 Dec 2019 (NAV) / 31 Mar 2020 (TSR)

1 

The number of shares corresponding to the face value is calculated using the share price of 140p for all Executive Directors rather than the 
115.1p that was the closing price of the Group’s shares on the date of award. 

2  Represents threshold vesting against both elements of the performance matrix. Lower vesting is possible if only one element of the matrix is 

partially met or as a result of the application of the relative performance underpin.

90

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017 
Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Loss of office payments or payments 
to former directors (audited 
information)
No payments for loss of office were made to past 
directors during the year nor were any payments 
made to former directors for director duties that 
have not already been included in their historic single 
figures of remuneration. 

Change in remuneration of the Chief 
Executive Officer compared to 
Group employees
The table below sets out the increase in the 
remuneration of the CEO and that of our UK 
employees (excluding Directors and new joiners/
leavers):

% change
 in base 
salary 
2016 
to 2017

15.9%

4.4%

% change 
in bonus 
2016 
to 2017

100%

100%

% change 
in benefits 
(exc. 
pensions) 
2016
 to 2017

50%

6.4%

CEO

UK employees

Historical executive pay and Group performance 
The table and graph below allow comparison of the Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”) of the Group and the 
Chief Executive Officer remuneration outcomes over the last nine years. 

The chart below shows the Group’s TSR performance against the performance of the FTSE All-Share, FTSE 
SmallCap and FTSE 250 indices over the nine-year period to 31 December 2017. The Directors have selected 
these indices as, in their opinion, these indices comprise the most relevant equity indices of which the 
Company was a member during a significant proportion of the period in question and against which total 
shareholder return of IP Group plc should be measured. 

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

IP Group

FTSE Small Cap

FTSE All Share

FTSE 250

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

91

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Historical Chief Executive Officer remuneration outcomes
The table below summarises the Chief Executive Officer single figure for total remuneration, annual bonus pay-
out and LTIP vesting as a percentage of maximum opportunity for the current year and previous seven years. 

Chief Executive Officer: Alan Aubrey

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

20171

CEO single figure of remuneration (£000s)

223

193

209 3,257

2,231

902

669

265

Annual bonus pay-out (% of maximum)

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a 100%

0% 100%

LTIP vesting (% of maximum)

n/a

0%

n/a

81% 100% 100% 57%

0%

0%

552

57%

0%

1 

LTIP vesting is based on the current expectations of the performance against the 2015 LTIP targets as discussed on page 89.

Relative spend on pay
The chart below shows the total employee costs, 
change in Hard NAV and change in share price from 
2016 to 2017.

The information shown in this chart is based on  
the following: 

Total employee pay: Total employee costs from note 
9 on page 137 including wages and salaries, social 
security costs, pension and share-based payments.

Change in “hard” NAV: change in the Group’s net 
assets excluding goodwill, intangibles and the Oxford 
Equity Rights asset taken from the statement of 
financial position on page 117.

Returns to shareholders: since the Group does not 
currently pay a dividend, returns to shareholders 
are represented by the change in the Group’s share 
price over the period from 31 December 2016 to 
31 December 2017.

2016

2017

17.0

1,326.2

178.8

142.2

9.5

706.5

Total employee costs 
(£m) +79% 

Hard NAV 
(£m) +114%

Share price 
(p) -20%

92

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Directors’ shareholdings and share 
interests (audited information)
The Group’s Remuneration Policy contains minimum 
shareholding requirements for each of its Executive 
Directors. 

The Committee has set the current limits at 2.0x 
salary for the Chief Executive Officer, and 1.5x salary 
for all other Executive Directors.

This level of shareholding is required to be met within 
four years of each director’s date of appointment (or 
by 1 July 2017, if later). If the guideline is not met by 
any Executive Director within this timeframe, then the 
Committee will discuss with the relevant Executive 
Director a plan to ensure that the guideline can be 
met within a reasonable timeframe. The Committee 
will ordinarily require Executive Directors to retain 
all shares received under the AIS or LTIP, other than 
as required to meet tax and NIC liabilities, until the 
guideline is met.

At the end of the year, Alan Aubrey, Mike Townend and 
Greg Smith met this requirement while David Baynes 
was required to meet the requirement by 19 March 
2018 (being the date which is four years following his 
appointment as director). David Baynes has previously 
met this requirement and share price fluctuations 
during the year have resulted in this requirement being 
marginally off targeted levels at 19 March 2018. The 
directors are mindful of Committee guidance on this 
matter and will work with the Committee to ensure 
that minimum levels are maintained, including as 
described above, retaining all shares received under 
the AIS or LTIP awards, other than as required to meet 
tax and NIC liabilities. 

Interests in shares
The Directors who held office during 2017 had the following beneficial interests in the ordinary shares of  
the Company:

Current directors

Alan Aubrey

Mike Townend

Greg Smith

David Baynes

Jonathan Brooks

Mike Humphrey

Doug Liversidge

Lynn Gladden

Elaine Sullivan

David Begg

31 December 2017

Number of shares

% of share capital

2,566,428

1,136,902

288,351

246,975

64,616

86,153

75,297

—

—

0.24%

0.11%

0.03%

0.02%

0.01%

0.01%

0.01%

—

—

40,628

0.00%

There have been no changes in the interests of the directors set out above between 31 December 2017 and 
29 March 2018.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

93

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Long-Term Incentive Plan
Directors’ participations in the Group’s LTIP are:

Number of shares 
conditionally 
held at 1 January 
2017

Conditional 
shares notionally 
awarded in the 
year

Vested 
during 
the year

Lapsed 
during 
the year

Potential 
conditional 
interest in shares 
at 31 December 
2017

Share price at 
date of 
 conditional 
award 
(p)

Alan Aubrey

2014 LTIP

2015 LTIP

2016 LTIP

2017 LTIP

Mike Townend

2014 LTIP

2015 LTIP

2016 LTIP

2017 LTIP

Greg Smith

2014 LTIP

2015 LTIP

2016 LTIP

2017 LTIP

David Baynes

2014 LTIP

2015 LTIP

2016 LTIP

2017 LTIP

147,042

124,751

664,313

—

936,106

117,634

99,801

327,342

—

544,777

94,310

89,409

306,803

—

490,522

117,634

99,801

327,342

—

544,777

—

—

—

857,142

857,142

—

—

—

378,571

378,571

—

—

—

378,571

378,571

—

—

—

378,571

378,571

— (147,042) 

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

124,751

664,313

857,142

— (147,042)

1,646,206

— (117,634)

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

99,801

327,342

378,571

— (117,634)

805,714

— (94,310)

—

—

—

—

—

—

— (94,310)

— (117,634)

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

89,409

306,803

378,571

774,783

—

99,801

327,342

378,571

— (117,634)

805,714

Earliest 
vesting 
date(s)

31-Mar-17

31-Mar-18

31-Mar-19

31-Mar-20

31-Mar-17

31-Mar-18

31-Mar-19

31-Mar-20

31-Mar-17

31-Mar-18

31-Mar-19

177.5

214.5

155.8

112.5*

177.5

214.5

155.8

112.5*

177.5

214.5

155.8

112.5*

31-Mar-20

177.5

214.5

31-Mar-17

31-Mar-18

155.8 

31-Mar-19

112.5*

31-Mar-20

* note that the number of conditional LTIP awards made in 2017 was calculated using the Group’s recent 140p placing price

94

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Deferred bonus share plan (“DBSP”) 
Directors’ interests in nil-cost options under the Group’s DBSP that have been granted in order to defer AIS 
bonuses in accordance with our Policy are as follows:

Options held 
at 1 January 
2017 

Options 
awarded in 
the year

Exercised 
during the 
year

Lapsed 
during the 
year

Options 
held at 31 
December 
2017

Share price 
at date of 
award (p)

Earliest 
vesting 
date(s)

Alan Aubrey

Deferral from 2013 AIS

Deferral from 2015 AIS

Deferral from 2015 AIS

33,037

42,710

42,710

118,457

Mike Townend

Deferral from 2013 AIS

22,024

Deferral from 2015 AIS

Deferral from 2015 AIS

Greg Smith

Deferral from 2013 AIS

Deferral from 2015 AIS

Deferral from 2015 AIS

David Baynes

Deferral from 2015 AIS

Deferral from 2015 AIS

25,981

25,981

73,986

15,593

22,637

22,637

60,867

25,981

25,981

51,962

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

(33,037)

(42,710)

—

(75,747)

(22,024)

(25,981)

—

(48,005)

(15,593)

(22,637)

—

(38,230)

(25,981)

—

(25,891)

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

42,710

42,710

—

—

25,981

25,981

—

—

22,637

22,637

192.4

15-Apr-16

175.6

31-Mar-17

175.6

31-Mar-18

192.4

15-Apr-16

175.6

31-Mar-17

175.6

31-Mar-18

192.4

15-Apr-16

175.6

31-Mar-17

175.6

31-Mar-18

—

175.6

31-Mar-17

25,981

25,981

175.6

31-Mar-18

Save-as-You-Earn (“SAYE”) 
The Group operates an HMRC-registered SAYE share save scheme for all UK employees in which two Executive 
Directors are current participants. Their currently outstanding option contracts under the SAYE and the 
respective maturity dates are listed in the table below.

Options 
held at 
1 January 
2017 

Options 
awarded in 
the year

Exercised 
during the 
year

Lapsed 
during 
the year

Options 
held at 
31 December 
2017

Option 
exercise 
price 
(p)

Share price 
at date of 
award 
(p)

Earliest 
vesting 
date(s)

Greg Smith

2014 SAYE

2015 SAYE

2017 SAYE

David Baynes

2014 SAYE

2015 SAYE

2017 SAYE

4,105

3,459

—

7,564

4,975

4,193

—

9,168

—

—

12,631

12,631

—

—

9,473

9,473

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

(4,105)

(3,459)

—

(7,564)

—

—

12,631

12,631

—

4,975

(4,193)

—

—

9,473

(4,193)

14,448

144.7p

171.7p

114.0p

198.3p 01-Aug-17

235.6p 01-Oct-18

141.3p 31-Aug-20

144.7p

171.7p

114.0p

198.3p 01-Aug-17

235.6p 01-Oct-18

141.3p 31-Aug-20

25829-04      23 May 2018 3:10 PM   Proof Nine

95

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Other long-term interests – legacy arrangements (audited information)
In addition to the Executive Directors’ remuneration arrangements, the Group also operates co-investment 
and carried interest arrangements relating to certain venture capital funds that are under its management. 
Under the co-investment arrangements, executive directors make minority capital and loan commitments to IP 
Venture Fund (“IPVF”) alongside the Group. Executives are entitled to participate in a carried interest scheme 
in respect of IPVF and The North East Technology Fund LP alongside the Group. Carried interest provides 
a preferential return to participants once the partnership in question has returned all funds contributed 
by limited partners together with a pre-agreed rate of return. The carried interest and co-investment 
arrangements will generally contain forfeiture provisions in respect of leavers over the investment period of the 
relevant partnership (typically 5-6 years). 

As described in the Policy, no new allocations of this kind will be made to executive directors in future however 
the current outstanding interests in co-investment and carried interest schemes in connection with the Group’s 
managed funds are as follows:

IPVF co-investment arrangements
The Executive Directors’ commitments to, and returns from, IPVF are set out below. Commitments are made 
indirectly through the IP Venture Fund (FP) LP, which is the founder partner of IPVF.

Total 
commitment 
£000

Limited 
partnership 
interest of 
IPVF

Total capital 
contributed 
to 1 January 
2017 
£000

Capital 
contributions 
during the 
year 
£000

Total capital 
contributions 
at 
31 December 
2017 
£000

Capital 
amounts 
repaid 
during the 
year 
£000

Total capital 
amounts 
repaid to 
31 December 
2017 
£000

Executive Directors
Alan Aubrey

Mike Townend

Greg Smith

Total

56

56

35

147

0.18%

0.18%

0.11%

0.47%

55

55

35

145

—

—

—

—

55

55

35

145

—

—

—

—

34

34

21

89

Carried interest arrangements
The Executive Directors’ interests in carried interest schemes are set out below:

Carried 
interest(ii) 
at 1 January 
2017 

Awarded 
during 
the year

Transferred 
during 
the year

Lapsed 
during 
the year

Scheme 
Interest at 
31 December 
2017(iii)

Accrued 
value(iv)
 of scheme 
interest at 
31 December 
2017 
£000

1.81%

1.55%

1.81%

1.15%

1.14%

0.85%

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1.81%

1.55%

1.81%

1.15%

1.14%

0.85%

340

—

340

—

214

—

Executive Directors
Alan Aubrey

Mike Townend

Greg Smith

Fund(i)

IPVF

NETF

IPVF

NETF

IPVF

NETF

i  Under the IPVF fund LPA, payments to participants are made when all limited partners have been repaid their contributions together with a hurdle 
rate of 8% compound interest. Under the North East Technology Fund (“NETF”) scheme, payments to participants are made when all limited 
partners have been repaid their contributions together with a hurdle rate of 3.5% compound interest.

ii 

Scheme interest represents the percentage of the relevant pool of investments in respect of which the participant is entitled to participate in the 
realised profits assuming the relevant hurdle return has been met.

iii  The schemes contain forfeiture provisions over the investment period of the fund which may reduce the scheme interest accruing to any 

participant. The table reflects the maximum scheme interest receivable should no forfeiture occur.

iv  Accrued value of scheme interests is calculated based upon the current fair value of the relevant limited partnership’s assets in excess of the capital 
contributed and the hurdle rate of return. Any payments will only be made following full repayment of limited partners’ loan commitments and the 
hurdle return and accordingly actual payments under the scheme, if any, may be materially different to those set out above.

96

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Former Fusion IP LTIP
While serving as an executive director of Fusion IP plc, which was acquired by the Group in 2014, Mr 
Baynes was conditionally awarded 1,000,000 shares in Fusion IP plc under the Fusion IP LTIP. As part of 
the arrangements for the acquisition of Fusion IP plc, Mr Baynes’ Fusion IP LTIP awards were converted into 
awards over IP Group shares at the same conversion price per share as the scheme of arrangement was 
undertaken (0.446 IP Group plc shares for every Fusion IP plc share). The awards were originally due to vest on

31 December 2017 provided certain performance conditions were met which relate to, inter alia, the growth 
in value of Fusion IP plc’s net asset value (“Fusion NAV”) from the date of acquisition and the continued 
employment of the individual by the Group. In summary, if Fusion NAV growth of 10% per annum is achieved 
then 30% of an award shall vest. Maximum vesting will occur if Fusion NAV growth of 20% per annum is 
achieved with straight-line vesting between 30% and 100% if Fusion NAV growth of 10%-20% per annum is 
achieved. The options expired on 31 December 2017 as the vesting criteria had not been met.

Number 
of shares 
conditionally 
held at 
1 January 
2017

Conditional 
shares 
notionally 
awarded 
in the year

Vested 
during 
the year

Lapsed 
during 
the year

Potential 
conditional 
interest in 
shares at 
31 December 
2017

Share price 
at date of 
conditional 
award 
(p)

Earliest vesting 
date(s) 

David Baynes

446,000

Total

446,000

—

—

— (446,000)

— (446,000)

—

—

n/a 31 December 2017

Outside appointments for executive directors
Any proposed external directorships are considered by the Board to ensure they do not cause a conflict 
of interest but, subject to this, executive directors may accept a maximum of two outside non-executive 
appointments and indeed the Board believes that it is part of their ongoing development to do so. Where an 
executive director accepts an appointment to the board of a company in which the Group is a shareholder, 
the Group generally retains the related fees. In the circumstances where the executive director receives 
such fees directly, such sums are generally deducted from their base salary from the Group. Fees earned for 
directorships of companies in which the Group does not have a shareholding are normally retained by the 
relevant director.

Any outside appointments (i.e. excluding those companies in which the Group is a shareholder) held by 
executive directors are set out on page 97.

Limits on the number of shares used to satisfy share awards (dilution limits)
All of the Group’s incentive schemes that contain an element that may be satisfied in IP Group shares 
incorporate provisions that in any ten-year period (ending on the relevant date of grant), the maximum 
number of the Shares that may be issued or issuable under all such schemes shall not exceed 10% of the issued 
ordinary share capital of the Company from time to time.

The Committee regularly monitors the position and prior to the making of any share-based award considers 
the effect of potential vesting of outstanding awards 
to ensure that the Company remains within these 
limits. Any awards which are required to be satisfied 
by market purchased shares are excluded from such 
calculations. No treasury shares were held or utilised in 
the year ended 31 December 2017.

0.4%

0.9%

0.6%

Vested LTIP awards in past 
10 years – Executives 0.9%

Vested LTIP awards in past 
10 years – Other staff 0.6%

As at 31 December 2017, the Company’s headroom 
position, which remains within such guidelines, was as 
shown in the chart to the right. 

7.0%

0.9%

0.2%

Outstanding LTIP awards – 
Executives 0.4%

Outstanding LTIP and Former 
Touchstone LTIP awards – 
Other staff 0.9%

Other share schemes 
(Sharesave, DBSP, etc.) 0.2%

Additional headroom 7.0%

97

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ remuneration report CONTINUED
ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Service agreements
The Executive Directors have service contracts that commenced on the dates set out in the chart below and 
contain a contractual notice period of six months by either party. The Non-Executive Directors have letters of 
appointment that commenced on the dates set out in the chart below are generally for an initial fixed term 
of three years, which is reviewed and may be extended for a further three years, and are terminable on three 
months’ notice by either party. In accordance with the Code, all directors submit themselves for annual re-
election by shareholders at each AGM.

Effective dates of service contracts of the Executive Directors

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Present

20 January 2005

5 March 2007

Alan
Aubrey

Mike
Townend

Greg 
Smith

David 
Baynes

2 June 2011

20 March 2014

Effective dates of letters of appointment of the Non-executive Directors

Jonathan
Brooks

Doug           
Liversidge

Lynn
Gladden

Mike
Humphrey

Elaine
Sullivan

David 
Begg

31 August 2011

Retired
31 December 2017

26 March 2014

14 October 2011

24 March 2015

30 July 2015

18 October
2017

Consideration by the Directors of matters relating to directors’ remuneration

The full terms of reference of the Committee, which 
are reviewed annually, are available on the Group’s 
website at www.ipgroupplc.com. In summary, the 
Remuneration Committee has specific responsibility 
for advising the Group’s Board on the remuneration 

and other benefits of executive directors, an overall 
policy in respect of remuneration of other employees 
of the Group and establishing the Group’s policy with 
respect to employee incentivisation schemes. 

The Remuneration Committee currently comprises 
the following independent non-executive directors 
whose backgrounds and experience are summarised 
on pages 62 and 63:

98

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Jonathan Brooks (Chair)
Mike Humphrey 
Lynn Gladden (Chair-designate, with effect from the 
2018 AGM)
Elaine Sullivan
David Begg

Doug Liversidge retired from the Board and its 
committees in December 2017 but served as a 
member of the Committee throughout 2017. David 
Begg joined the Committee in October 2017.

Committee meetings are administered and minuted 
by the Company Secretary. In addition, the 
Committee received assistance from the CFO, CEO 
and COO who attend meetings by invitation, except 
when matters relating to their own remuneration are 
being discussed.

During the year, the key activities carried out by the 
Committee were:

 y Consideration of the Group’s overall remuneration 
philosophy to ensure it continues to promote the 
Group’s strategy, including the blend of fixed and 
short and longer-term variable pay.

 y Consideration of the skills and experience of 
the Executive Directors and carrying out of 
benchmarking in order to determine base salaries 
and total remuneration opportunity for the 
period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 and giving 
further consideration to base salaries and total 
remuneration opportunity with effect from  
1 April 2018.

 y Review of the Group’s approach to non-director 

remuneration including base salaries and incentive 
scheme targets and pay-outs.

 y Consideration of LTIP awards and vesting targets 
for 2017 and 2018 awards and outturns for the 
2014 and 2015 awards.

 y Consideration of AIS awards and vesting targets 
for 2017 and 2018 as well as outturns for 2017.

 y Review and consideration of the further evolution 
of the application of the Group’s Remuneration 
Policy for non-director employees with particular 
consideration for matters related to the integration 
of Touchstone Innovations.

 y Approval of the Group’s DRR.

External advisers
The Remuneration Committee is authorised, if it 
wishes, to seek independent specialist services to 
provide information and advice on remuneration at 
the Company’s expense, including attendance at 
Committee meetings.

During the year the Remuneration Committee 
continued its review of executive remuneration and 
took into consideration professional advice from 
Deloitte LLP in respect of the development of the 
Group’s Remuneration Policy and its application, and 
reporting under the revised Directors’ Remuneration 
Reporting Regulations. Deloitte is a founding member 
of the Remuneration Consultants Group and adheres 
to its Code in relation to executive remuneration 
consulting in the UK. Fees paid to Deloitte LLP in 
connection with advice to the Committee in 2017 
were £14,700. Deloitte LLP also provided advice 
to the Group in 2017 in connection with its internal 
assessment of the effectiveness of the operation of its 
Board and in connection with valuations of certain of 
its unlisted portfolio company holdings.

Statement of shareholder voting
The table below sets out the proxy results of the votes on the Group’s Remuneration Report at the Group’s 
2017 AGM.

Votes for

Votes against

Number

% of votes 
cast

Number

% of votes 
cast

Total votes 
cast

Votes 
withheld

Remuneration Report

443,440,166

98.91

4,762,647

1.06 448,328,875

13,842,298

Remuneration disclosure
This report complies with the requirements of the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups 
Regulations 2008 as amended in 2013, the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code (September 2012) 
and the Listing Rules.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

99

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Report of the audit & risk committee

2017 represented a particularly busy year for the Audit 
and Risk Committee following the completion of the 
acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors in the first quarter, the 
expansion into Australia and associated fundraising in 
the summer and the major acquisition of Touchstone 
Innovations Plc in the latter half of the year. 

JONATHAN BROOKS CHAIRMAN OF THE AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE

Audit and Risk Committee (“ARC” or 
the “Committee”) responsibilities
The Committee monitors the integrity of the financial 
statements of the Group, and reviews all proposed 
annual and half-yearly results announcements 
to be made by the Group with consideration 
being given to any significant financial reporting 
judgements contained in them. The Committee 
also advises the Board on whether it believes the 
annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is 
fair, balanced and understandable and provides the 
information necessary for shareholders to assess 
the Company’s performance, business model and 
strategy. The Committee also considers internal 
controls, compliance with legal requirements, 
accounting standards and the Listing, Disclosure 
and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct 
Authority, and also reviews any proposed change 
in accounting policies and any recommendations 
from the Group’s Auditor regarding improvements 
to internal controls and the adequacy of resources 
within the Group’s finance function. Finally, the 
Committee takes responsibility on behalf of the Board 
for the review of risk management and controls within 
the Group, as well as conducting an annual robust 
assessment of these.

A full copy of the Committee’s Terms of Reference 
is available from the Company’s website at www.
ipgroupplc.com.

Committee membership
The Committee comprises four independent non-
executive directors, with myself as Chair. As the Chair 
of the Committee, I am deemed by the Board to 
have recent and relevant financial experience, being 
a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management 
Accountants and having held senior financial 
positions in my career. The Board is satisfied that for 

the year under review, and thereafter, that the Audit 
and Risk Committee as a whole has competence 
relevant to the sector in which the company operates.

Exceptionally, with the additional work resulting 
from the acquisition of Touchstone Innovations plc 
in 2017, the Committee met five times during the 
year. All of the meetings were attended by the four 
independent Non-executive Directors. The members 
of the Committee for the entire year were Professor 
Lynn Gladden, Dr Elaine Sullivan and Doug Liversidge 
with myself as Chair. Doug Liversidge retired from the 
Committee and the Board following our final meeting 
in December and was replaced by Professor David 
Begg who joined the IP Group board in November 
2017 and who attended the meeting in December as 
an Observer. 

The Group’s Chairman, Chief Financial Officer, Group 
Financial Controller, and the external auditor were 
also invited to attend all of the meetings and did so. 
At the end of each of the meetings, the Committee 
met with the auditor without any members of the 
executive management team being present. 

Activities during the year
The main activities of the Committee during 2017 can 
be seen by referring to the summary agenda items 
in the table overleaf. During 2017 this was clearly 
divided between matters of financial oversight and 
those concerned with the management of risk. 2017 
was an extremely active year for the Committee 
with the completion of the acquisition of Parkwalk 
Advisors in early 2017, the expansion into Australia 
and associated fund-raising in the summer and 
the acquisition of Touchstone Innovations which 
eventually completed in November. 

100

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

Valuation of assets and liabilities
This remains the key audit risk for the Group, and  
at each reporting event the Audit & Risk Committee 
discusses with management and the auditor  
the approach that has been taken in assessing all  
key estimates. 

The most material area of judgement in the financial 
statements has always related to the valuation of 
the unquoted equity investments, and the acquisition 
of Touchstone in November 2017 made this task 
more difficult.

With respect to the “pre-Touchstone” unquoted 
portfolio, the Committee was able to satisfy itself that 
the portfolio valuations were materially correct after 
considering findings from the year end valuations 
review meeting, taken together with additional 
valuation materials including written reports on the 
Group’s portfolio companies. However, the inclusion 
of the unquoted portfolio from Touchstone was more 
difficult since several of its unquoted investments had 

not completed a funding round within the previous 
year and a number were only held by a small number 
of investors, thus limiting the ability to validate 
the carrying values by reference to recent funding 
rounds or an extensive shareholder base. As a result, 
an extensive and detailed analysis was undertaken, 
backed up, where necessary, with independent 
valuation work by third parties and discussions with 
KPMG. At the end of this process it was decided that 
12 of these investments should be written down and 
one should be written up, by an aggregate value of 
£112.5m, or 24.4%, out of a total Touchstone portfolio 
pre-adjusted carrying value of £461.1m.

At year end the fair value of the Group’s intangible 
assets was £182.3m and goodwill was £172.1m, 
compared with £62.2m and £57.1m respectively at the 
end of 2016. The goodwill balance is tested annually 
for impairment. The intangible assets are reviewed 
for impairment indicators and impairment tests are 
performed if any indicators are noted. 

Summary agendas for the Audit & Risk Committee meetings in 2017

February 
2017

Primarily audit-focused business

Primarily risk-focused business

 y Full year financial statements and 

 y Principal risks, risk appetite and controls

discussions with auditor; significant 
accounting judgements

 y Fair, balanced and understandable review 

of Annual Report

 y Audit & Risk Committee effectiveness 

review

 y Review and division of annual agenda of 

Audit & Risk Committee

 y Long term viability statement & going 

concern review for 2016 financial 
statements

 y Third party review of cyber security

 y Third party review of US Operations

 y Risk Council terms of reference approval

May 2017

 y Planning of internal audit projects

 y Risk Council update

 y Half year results planning 

 y Review of Group Treasury Policy

 y Update on new accounting system

 y Prevention of facilitation of tax evasion

 y Auditor effectiveness review

 y External review of FCA-authorised 

 y Acquisition accounting for Parkwalk

business controls including presentation 
by Parkwalk 

 y Consideration of the requirement for a 

formal internal audit function

July 2017

 y Half year financial statements and review 
with auditor of significant accounting 
judgements

 y Financial Positions and Prospects 
Procedures related to potential 
Touchstone acquisition

 y Risk Council update

 y Ratification of provision of non-audit 
services by auditor in respect of 
Touchstone acquisition

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

101

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Report of the audit & risk committee CONTINUED

October 
2017

Primarily audit-focused business

Primarily risk-focused business

 y Review of auditor’s 2017 audit planning 

 y Risk register update

document to include Touchstone

 y Touchstone integration plan

 y Australian business update

 y Controls against facilitation of tax evasion

 y Cyber security update

 y Review of D&O and PI insurances

 y Anti-bribery update

 y Whistleblowing policy; annual review of 

process

December 
2017

 y KPMG Audit planning 

 y Risk Council update: integration risks

 y Asset valuation methodology post 

 y GDPR Update

 y Australian regulated activities update

Touchstone acquisition

 y Accounting impact of Touchstone 

acquisition

 y Long term viability statement paper

 y Annual review of Committee rolling 

agenda

 y Annual review of Committee terms of 

reference

Regulatory Compliance
Ensuring compliance for FCA regulated businesses 
also represents an important control risk from the 
perspective of the ARC. Ongoing internal reviews 
are conducted through the use of a compliance 
monitoring programme and an annual external 
evaluation is also conducted by a specialist firm. 
This was made more complex with the addition of 
the Parkwalk Advisors business in January and one 
regulated entity within the Touchstone group similar 
to IP Capital in October, but during the 2017 review, 
no specific issues were identified.

Review of Annual Report and 
Accounts and Half-yearly Report 
The Committee carried out a thorough review of 
the Group’s 2017 Annual Report and Accounts 
and its 2017 Half-yearly Report resulting in the 
recommendation of both for approval by the Board. 
In carrying out its review, the Committee gave 
particular consideration to whether the Annual 
Report, taken as a whole, was fair, balanced and 
understandable, concluding that it was. It did this 
primarily through consideration of the reporting 
of the Group’s business model and strategy, the 
competitive landscape in which it operates, the 

significant risks it faces, the progress made against 
its strategic objectives and the progress made by, 
and changes in fair value of, its portfolio companies 
during the year.

Going Concern and  
Long Term Viability
Annually, the Committee considers the going concern 
principle on which the financial statements are 
prepared and also considers and approves the long 
term viability review prepared by management. As a 
business which seeks to establish and invest in new 
ventures as well as support existing investments 
with further capital, the business model is currently 
inherently cash-consuming. With a closing cash 
balance in 2017 of £326.3m the Group has sufficient 
cash reserves to continue to provide capital to 
its existing portfolio and to create and fund new 
businesses at a similar rate to previous years for at 
least two years assuming broadly similar levels of net 
operating expenditure and portfolio realisations. 

The Committee, as in previous years, decided that the 
long term viability of the Group remained principally 
related to a number of factors. These included the 
scaling of the business across different territories, 
changes in the ability to raise further capital, different 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Committee reports
Our Governance Committee Reports

outcomes following an Oxford Nanopore ‘exit’ 
event, with the integration of the former Touchstone 
business a new risk factor to consider. The impact 
of these on each of a series of forecast scenarios 
was assessed. In the scenario with significant 
downside, where no further funding was available 
to the Group for the next three years, together with 
a halving in value of the entire portfolio, assuming a 
corresponding reduction in overheads, the business 
remained viable for three years. In the light of this, 
both the Committee and the wider Board came to 
the conclusion that the viability period should not be 
greater than three years. 

Risk and internal controls
The key elements of the Group’s internal control 
framework and procedures are set out on page 78.  
The principal risks the Group faces are set out 
on pages 48 to 53. During the year, the Audit 
Committee devoted part of each meeting to items 
concerning risk and its management. With the 
expansion in Australia combined with the acquisition 
of Touchstone Innovations, the Committee felt that 
scalability, integration and management bandwidth 
issues were now of much greater importance. 

One important change in the management of risk was 
the decision in 2016 to establish a Risk Council, whose 
permanent members would be the Chief Financial 
Officer, Company Secretary and Group Financial 
Controller, with other executives and management 
from across the business attending periodically 
during the year as necessary. In establishing the 
Risk Council the purpose was to further formalise 
management’s processes for identifying group-wide 
risks, the controls in place to mitigate such risks 
and to assess the design and effectiveness of such 
internal controls, as well as to disseminate and embed 
established practices consistently across the Group. 
The Risk Council met six times during its first full 
year of operation, and reported to the Committee 
following each meeting.

Whistleblowing Policy
There is a formal whistleblowing policy which has 
been communicated to employees. This policy 
provides information on the process to follow in the 
event that any employee feels it is appropriate to 
make a disclosure. The Audit Committee is satisfied 
that the policy provides an adequate basis for 
employees to make representations in confidence 
to the Group and for appropriate and proportionate 
investigations.

Cyber Security and GDPR
Recognising the increasing importance of this 
subject following numerous well-publicised cyber-
security breaches suffered by other businesses, 
the Group continued to invest more time and 
effort in improving its cyber security during 2017. 
Cyber security, a standing agenda item for the 
Committee, was discussed twice during the year. A 
review of the Group’s cybersecurity practices and 
procedures was carried out by Nettitude Limited 
following their review in 2016 and it was noted that 
progress continued to be made. In addition, the 
Group continued to work with PwC and others to 
ensure compliance with the General Data Protection 
Regulation which will come into force in May 2018.

Internal audit
The Group does not maintain a separate internal 
audit function. This is principally due to the size 
of the Group where close control over operations 
is exercised by a small number of executives. The 
Audit and Risk Committee currently considers the 
outsourced provision of internal audit work as both 
more efficient and cost-effective than having its own 
central internal audit team. However, the Audit and 
Risk Committee does review the need to have its own 
separate internal audit function each year. 

The Audit and Risk Committee has developed a 
framework to gain assurance over the system  
of internal financial and operational controls. 
This comprises: 

 y A risk assessment performed by operational 

management and the Board to identify key areas 
for assurance. 

 y An annual assessment by the Audit and Risk 
Committee of the whole system of internal 
financial and operational controls.

During 2017, the principal internal audit project 
undertaken was a review of the Group’s business 
in the US. The Committee engaged a third party 
professional services firm, PwC, to examine the 
risk profile of the US business, ensure that it was 
compliant with all local laws and regulations and 
had appropriate financial controls and operational 
systems. PwC concluded that the systems and 
processes were at a higher level than they might have 
expected and that overall the business was being 
operated within Group policies.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Report of the audit & risk committee CONTINUED

Auditor Independence
A formal statement of independence is received from 
the auditor each year and the Board and the Audit 
Committee are satisfied that the independence of the 
auditor has been maintained. 

Auditor Effectiveness
The Committee will complete its formal assessment 
of the effectiveness of the Group’s external auditor 
following the completion of the 2017 audit cycle and 
will report on this assessment in the 2018 annual 
report. With respect to the 2016 audit, the Committee 
formally considered this at its May 2017 meeting and, 
as in the previous year, decided that the substantive 
and detailed approach taken by the auditor, Jon Mills 
of KPMG, was entirely appropriate and effective. As 
in the previous year, the vast majority of the Group’s 
assets were reviewed as part of the audit, and once 
again there was particular emphasis on the valuation 
of Oxford Nanopore which continued to represent 
such an important part of the Group’s unquoted 
portfolio. Specialist corporate finance staff were 
used for some of the valuation work and overall, 
the auditor’s risk-based approach drew on both his 
knowledge of the business and the wider economic 
and business environment. 

I will be available at the AGM to answer any questions 
about the Committee’s work.

JONATHAN BROOKS
CHAIRMAN OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE 

29 March 2018

External audit
The effectiveness of the external audit process is 
dependent on appropriate risk identification. In 
December, the Committee discussed the Auditor’s 
audit plan for 2017. This included a summary of 
the proposed audit scope and a summary of what 
the Auditor considered to be the most significant 
financial reporting risks facing the Group together 
with the Auditor’s proposed audit approach to these 
significant risk areas. The main areas of audit focus 
for the year were the valuation of investments in 
the newly acquired unquoted companies within the 
former Touchstone portfolio and the corresponding 
goodwill arising from these, the valuation of Istesso 
Limited, following its de-consolidation from the IP 
Group, and as in previous years, the valuation of 
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited.

Appointment and Independence
The Audit Committee advises the Board on the 
appointment of the external auditor and on its 
remuneration both for audit and non-audit work 
and discusses the nature, scope and results of the 
audit with the external auditor. The Committee 
keeps under review the cost-effectiveness and the 
independence and objectivity of the external auditor. 
Controls in place to ensure this include monitoring 
the independence and effectiveness of the audit, 
implementing a policy on the engagement of the 
external auditor to supply non-audit services, and 
a review of the scope of the audit and fee and 
performance of the external auditor.

Non-Audit Work
The Audit Committee approves all fees paid to the 
auditor for non-audit work. In 2017 the Group’s 
Auditor, KPMG LLP carried out a non-audit 
engagement to perform in respect of the acquisition 
of Touchstone Innovations plc. Given the natural 
overlap between this work and the financial audit of 
the group’s results, the Committee judged KPMG the 
most effective party to perform this work. In other 
matters, the Committee prefers to engage other firms 
to perform consulting engagements to ensure that 
the independence of the Auditor is not compromised 
and during 2017 engaged the services of BDO, PwC 
and Deloitte. An analysis of audit and non-audit fees 
is provided in note 6 to the financial statements on 
page 136. 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Directors’ report

Report of the Directors
The Directors present their report together with the 
audited financial statements for IP Group plc and its 
subsidiaries for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Corporate governance statement
Information that fulfils the requirements of the 
corporate governance statement can be found in the 
Corporate Governance Statement on pages 64 to 
79 and is incorporated into this Directors’ report by 
reference.

Results and dividends 
During the period, the Group made an overall profit 
after taxation for the year ended 31 December 2017 
of £53.4m (2016: £14.8m loss). The directors do not 
recommend the payment of a dividend (2016: £nil). 

Directors
The names of directors who currently hold office or 
did so during 2017 are as follows:

Executive Directors
Alan Aubrey
Mike Townend
Greg Smith
David Baynes

Non-executive Directors
Mike Humphrey (Chairman)
Jonathan Brooks
Doug Liversidge (resigned on 31 December 2017)
Prof Lynn Gladden
Dr Elaine Sullivan 
Prof David Begg (appointed with effect from 18 
October 2017)

Details of the interests of directors in the share 
capital of the Company are set out in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report on page 93.

Principal risks and uncertainties and 
financial instruments 
The Group through its operations is exposed to 
a number of risks. The Group’s risk management 
objectives and policies are described on pages 46 to 
47 and in the Corporate Governance report on page 
78. Further information on the Group’s financial risk 
management objectives and policies, including those 
in relation to credit risk, liquidity risk and market risk, 
is provided in note 2 to the consolidated financial 
statements, along with further information on the 
Group’s use of financial instruments.

Our Governance Other statutory
Our Governance Other Statutory

Significant agreements
The Group has entered into various agreements to 
form partnerships with 18 UK universities, five US 
universities and nine universities in Australasia. In 
addition, the Group has entered into agreements to 
act as general partner and investment manager to 
three limited partnerships. Further details can be 
found in the strategic report and in the notes to the 
financial statements.

Share capital and related matters
Details of the structure of the Company’s share 
capital and the rights attaching to the Company’s 
shares are set out in note 20 to the consolidated 
financial statements. There are no specific restrictions 
on the size of a holding or on the transfer of shares, 
which are both governed by the general provisions of 
the Company’s Articles of Association (the “Articles”) 
and prevailing legislation.

At the last Annual General Meeting of the Company 
held on 10 May 2017 (the “2017 AGM”), authority 
was given to the Directors pursuant to the relevant 
provisions of the Companies Act 2006 to allot shares 
and grant rights over securities in the Company up to 
a maximum amount equivalent to approximately one-
third of the issued ordinary share capital on 5 April 
2017 at any time up to the earlier of the conclusion 
of the next Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of the 
Company and 1 August 2018. In addition, at the 2017 
AGM, the Directors were also given authority effective 
for the same period as the aforementioned authority 
to allot shares and grant rights over securities in the 
Company up to a maximum of approximately two-
thirds of the total ordinary share capital in issue on 
5 April 2017 in connection with an offer by way of a 
fully pre-emptive rights issue. The Directors propose 
to renew both of these authorities at the Company’s 
next AGM to be held on 18 June 2018. The authorities 
being sought are in accordance with guidance issued 
by the Investment Association.

A further special resolution passed at the 2017 AGM 
granted authority to the Directors to allot equity 
securities in the Company for cash, without regard 
to the pre-emption provisions of the Companies Act 
2006, both: (i) up to a maximum of approximately 
two-thirds of the total ordinary share capital in 
issue on 5 April 2017 in connection with a fully pre-
emptive rights issue; and (ii) up to a maximum of 
approximately 5% of the aggregate nominal value 
of the shares in issue on 5 April 2017, each authority 
exercisable at any time up to the earlier of the 

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Directors’ report CONTINUED

conclusion of the next AGM of the Company and 
1 August 2018. The Directors will seek to renew these 
authorities for a similar period at the next AGM to be 
held on 18 June 2018.

Under Part 18, Chapter 5 of the Companies Act 2006, 
the Company has the power to purchase its own 
shares. At the 2017 AGM, a special resolution was 
passed which granted the Directors authority to make 
market purchases of the Company’s shares pursuant 
to these provisions of the Companies Act 2006 up to 
a maximum of approximately 10% of the Company’s 
issued share capital on 5 April 2017 provided that the 
authority granted set a minimum and maximum price 
at which purchases can be made and is exercisable at 
any time up to the earlier of the conclusion of the next 
AGM and 1 August 2018. This authority has not been 
used during the year. The Directors will seek to renew 
the authority within similar parameters and for a similar 
period at the next AGM to be held on 18 June 2018.

Articles of Association
The Company’s Articles may be amended by a special 
resolution of the shareholders.

Substantial shareholders 
As at 29 March 2018, the Company had been advised 
of the following shareholders with interests of 3% 
or more in its ordinary share capital. Other than as 
shown, so far as the Company (and its Directors) 
are aware, no other person holds or is beneficially 
interested in a disclosable interest in the Company.

Shareholder

Invesco Asset Management Limited 

Woodford Investment Management 
LLP 

Lansdowne 

Imperial College of Science Technology 
& Medicine

Bailie Gifford

%

28.1

19.9

11.8

5.2

4.0

Political donations 
The Group did not make any political donations 
during 2017.

Corporate and social responsibility
Details on the Group’s policies, activities and aims 
with regard to its corporate and social responsibilities, 
including details of its greenhouse gas emissions,  
are included in the Sustainability section on pages 54  
to 59.

Directors’ indemnity and  
liability insurance
During the year, the Company has maintained liability 
insurance in respect of its Directors. Subject to the 
provisions of the Companies Act 2006, the Articles 
provide that to the extent that the proceeds of any 
liability insurance are insufficient to meet any liability 
in full, every Director is entitled to be indemnified out 
of the funds of the Company against any liabilities 
incurred in the execution or discharge of his or her 
powers or duties. A copy of the indemnity is available 
for inspection as required by the Companies Act 2006.

Regulation
Top Technology Ventures Limited, Touchstone 
Innovations Investment Management Limited and 
Parkwalk Advisors Ltd, all 100%-owned subsidiaries 
of the Group are authorised and regulated by the 
Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial 
Services and Markets Act 2000.

Post balance sheet events
Material events occurring since the balance sheet 
date are disclosed in the Strategic Report and in note 
29 to the Group’s financial statements.

Disclosure of information to auditor 
Each of the persons who is a Director at the date of 
approval of this Annual Report confirms that:

so far as the Director is aware, there is no relevant 
audit information of which the Company’s Auditor is 
unaware; and

the Director has taken all steps that he/she ought to 
have taken as a Director in order to make himself/
herself aware of any relevant audit information and to 
establish that the Company’s Auditor is aware of that 
information.

This confirmation is given and should be interpreted 
in accordance with the provisions of Section 418 of 
the Companies Act 2006.

Appointment of auditor 
A resolution to reappoint KPMG LLP, together with 
a resolution to authorise the Directors to determine 
their remuneration, will be proposed at the AGM to be 
held on 18 June 2018. 

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

ANGELA LEACH
COMPANY SECRETARY

29 March 2018

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Governance Other statutory
Our Governance Other Statutory

Statement of directors’ responsibilities

In respect of the Annual Report and the Financial 
Statements

The directors are responsible for preparing the 
Annual Report and the group and parent company 
financial statements in accordance with applicable 
law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare 
group and parent company financial statements 
for each financial year. Under that law they are 
required to prepare the group financial statements 
in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and 
applicable law and have elected to prepare the parent 
company financial statements in accordance with UK 
Accounting Standards.

Under company law the directors must not approve 
the financial statements unless they are satisfied 
that they give a true and fair view of the state of 
affairs of the group and parent company and of their 
profit or loss for that period. In preparing each of the 
group and parent company financial statements, the 
directors are required to:

 y select suitable accounting policies and then apply 

them consistently;

 y make judgements and estimates that are 

reasonable and prudent;

of financial statements that are free from material 
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and have 
general responsibility for taking such steps as are 
reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of 
the Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other 
irregularities.

Under applicable law and regulations, the directors 
are also responsible for preparing a Strategic Report, 
Directors’ Report, Directors’ Remuneration Report 
and Corporate Governance Statement that complies 
with that law and those regulations.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance 
and integrity of the corporate and financial 
information included on the Group’s website. 
Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and 
dissemination of financial statements may differ from 
legislation in other jurisdictions.

Responsibility statement of the 
Directors in respect of the annual 
financial report
We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

 y the financial statements, prepared in accordance 
with the applicable set of accounting standards, 
give a true and fair view of the

 y for the group financial statements, state whether 

they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs 
as adopted by the EU;

 y assets, liabilities, financial position and profit 
or loss of the company and the undertakings 
included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and

 y for the parent company financial statements, state 
whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have 
been followed, subject to any material departures 
disclosed and explained in the parent company 
financial statements;

 y assess the group and parent company’s ability 
to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as 
applicable, matters related to going concern; and

 y prepare the financial statements on the going 

concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume 
that the group and the parent company will 
continue in business.

 y the Directors’ Report includes a fair review of the 

development and performance of the business and 
the position of the issuer and the undertakings 
included in the consolidation taken as a whole, 
together with a description of the principal risks 
and uncertainties that they face.

We consider the annual report and accounts, taken 
as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and 
provides the information necessary for shareholders 
to assess the group’s position and performance, 
business model and strategy.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate 
accounting records that are sufficient to show 
and explain the parent company’s transactions 
and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time 
the financial position of the parent company and 
enable them to ensure that its financial statements 
comply with the Companies Act 2006. They 
are responsible for such internal control as they 
determine is necessary to enable the preparation 

MIKE HUMPHREY
CHAIRMAN 

29 March 2018

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com Deliver

To deliver attractive financial  
returns from our assets

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017

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OUR FINANCIALS

Independent auditor’s report 
Group primary statements 

110 

Consolidated statement of  
comprehensive income 

Consolidated statement of  
financial position 

Consolidated statement  
of cash flows 

Consolidated statement of  
changes in equity 

Group notes

Notes to the consolidated  
financial statements 

Company statements 

Company balance sheet 

116

117

118

119

120

167

Statement of changes in equity  168

Notes to the company 
financial statements 

Company information 

169

183

Stock Code: IPO www.ipgroupplc.com

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Independent auditor’s report
TO THE MEMBERS OF IP GROUP PLC ONLY

1. Our opinion is unmodified 
We have audited the financial statements of IP Group 
plc (“the Group”) for the year ended 31 December 
2017 which comprise the consolidated statement 
of comprehensive income, the Group consolidated 
statement of financial position, the consolidated 
statement of cash flows, the consolidated statement 
of changes in equity, the Company balance sheet and 
the related notes, including the accounting policies in 
note 1. 

In our opinion: 

 y the financial statements give a true and fair view 
of the state of the Group’s and of the parent 
Company’s affairs as at 31 December 2017 and of 
the Group’s profit for the year then ended; 

 y the Group financial statements have been properly 
prepared in accordance with International Financial 
Reporting Standards as adopted by the European 
Union; 

 y the parent Company financial statements have 
been properly prepared in accordance with UK 
accounting standards, including FRS 101 Reduced 
Disclosure Framework; and 

 y the financial statements have been prepared 
in accordance with the requirements of the 
Companies Act 2006 and, as regards the 
Group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS 
Regulation. 

Basis for opinion 
We conducted our audit in accordance with 
International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs 
(UK)”) and applicable law. Our responsibilities are 
described below. We believe that the audit evidence 
we have obtained is a sufficient and appropriate basis 
for our opinion. Our audit opinion is consistent with 
our report to the audit committee. 

We were appointed as auditor by the shareholders 
on 13 May 2014. The period of total uninterrupted 
engagement is for the four financial years ended 
31 December 2017. We have fulfilled our ethical 
responsibilities under, and we remain independent 
of the Group in accordance with, UK ethical 
requirements including the FRC Ethical Standard as 
applied to listed public interest entities. No non-audit 
services prohibited by that standard were provided. 

2. Key audit matters: our assessment 
of risks of material misstatement
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our 
professional judgment, were of most significance 
in the audit of the financial statements and include 
the most significant assessed risks of material 
misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) identified 
by us, including those which had the greatest 
effect on: the overall audit strategy; the allocation 
of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts 
of the engagement team. We summarise below 
the key audit matters, in decreasing order of audit 
significance, in arriving at our audit opinion above, 
together with our key audit procedures to address 
those matters and, as required for public interest 
entities, our results from those procedures. These 
matters were addressed, and our results are based 
on procedures undertaken, in the context of, and 
solely for the purpose of, our audit of the financial 
statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion 
thereon, and consequently are incidental to that 
opinion, and we do not provide a separate opinion on 
these matters. 

Valuation of unquoted equity investments 
(£860.3m; 2016: £433.8m) Risk vs 2016:
Refer to pages 100 to 104 (Audit Committee Report), 
pages 125 to 127 (accounting policy) and pages 
143 to 145 (financial disclosures).

 y The risk: Subjective valuation – 51.8% of 

the Group’s total assets (by value) is held in 
investments where no quoted market price is 
available. In October 2017 the Group acquired 
Touchstone Innovations plc. This acquisition lead 
to significant increase in the number of unquoted 
equity investments held by the Group. 

Unquoted investments are measured at fair value 
which is estimated by the directors based on 
methods such as prices of recent investment and 
discounted cash flows. Where price of recent 
investment is used, due to the relatively low 
number of investors partaking in funding rounds, 
there is a risk that recent funding round prices 
on which fair value is based are not sufficiently 
at arm’s length to ensure an independent market 
valuation representative of fair value. Whether 
it remains appropriate to use the price of the 
recent funding rounds depends on the specific 
circumstances of the investment, the stability of 
the external environment and the period since the 
last funding round occurred. There are a number 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Auditor’s report

of assumptions made by the directors when 
using alternative valuation methods, such as a 
discounted cash flows, including the probability of 
achieving milestones and the discount rate used.

 y Assessing transparency: Considering the 

appropriateness, in accordance with relevant 
accounting standards, of the disclosures related to 
unquoted investments.

There is a concentration of risk within the 
unquoted valuation of Oxford Nanopore, of which 
the Group’s stake is valued at £274.1m (2016: 
£246.2m), comprising 24% of the portfolio (2016: 
40%) and 17% of total assets (2016: 36%).

This risk is applicable to the parent company, 
which also holds investments where no quoted 
market price is available.

 y Our response – Our procedures included:

 y Methodology choice: For a selection of 

investments, assessing the reasonableness of the 
valuation approach used, considering these against 
IPEV guidelines; 

 — For those valued using the price of recent 
investment as an appropriate basis for the 
measurement of the fair value at the time, 
evaluating the independence of the funding 
round on which this valuation is based and 
corroborating the price to signed Share 
Subscription Agreements; 

 — For those valued based on a funding round 
aged greater than 12 months, corroborating 
judgements through discussions with the 
investment team and independent support, 
such as investee board minutes;

 — For those valued using alternative valuation 
methods, such as a discounted cash flows, 
corroborating the underlying information back 
to independent support, such as signed license 
agreements; 

 y Our results: We found the valuation of unquoted 

equity investments to be acceptable.

Carrying value of goodwill (£172.1m;  
2016: £57.1m) Risk vs 2016:
Refer to pages 100 to 104 (Audit Committee Report), 
page 124 (accounting policy) and pages 139 to 140 
(financial disclosures).

 y The risk: Forecast based valuation – IP Group’s 
impairment review of goodwill involved the 
calculation of value-in-use through a discounted 
cash flow model. The estimated recoverable 
amount is subjective due to the inherent 
uncertainty involved in forecasting and discounting 
future cash flows in the UK university spin-out 
company market. Significant levels of judgement 
are inherent within the assumptions used, including 
the discount rate, gains on future investments, the 
annual investment rate and the weighted average 
holding period of the Group’s investments. 

 y Our response – Our procedures included:

 y Assessing methodology: Assessing the principles 
and integrity of the value in use discounted cash 
flow;

 y Historical comparisons: Comparing the 

assumptions to actual cashflows achieved in the 
year, such as the annual investment rate;

 y Sensitivity analysis: Considering the sensitivity of 
the valuation model to the key assumptions above 
through a sensitivity analysis that considered the 
impact of each assumption on the value in use;

 y Our corporate finance expertise: For a selection of 
investments, when alternative valuation methods 
are used, assessing the principles and integrity of 
the method using our own valuation specialist; 

 y Assessing transparency: Assessing the Group’s 

disclosures of the sensitivity of the outcome of the 
impairment reviews to changes in key assumptions 
against IAS 36.

 y Independent research: Conducting research into 
publicly available information, including news 
websites and the companies own website, for 
indicators of fair value changes since the last 
funding round was set;

 y Valuation meetings attendance: Observing the 
Directors and senior finance personnel to assess 
their discussion and review of the investment 
valuations and methodology choice;

 y Our results: We found the resulting estimate of the 
recoverable amount of goodwill to be acceptable.

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TO THE MEMBERS OF IP GROUP PLC ONLY

Acquisition of Touchstone Innovations plc 
– Goodwill recognition (£108.5m) Risk vs 
2016 New:
Refer to page pages 100 to 104 (Audit Committee 
Report), page 124 (accounting policy) and pages 
159 to 161 (financial disclosures).

 y The risk: Subjective estimate – On acquisition, 

3. Our application of materiality  
and an overview of the scope of  
our audit 
The materiality for the Group financial statements as 
a whole was set at £16.8m (2016: £8.0m), determined 
with reference to a benchmark of Group total assets, 
of which it represents 1% (2016: 1%). 

Materiality for the parent company financial 
statements as a whole was set at £12.9m (2016: 
£5.4m), determined with reference to a benchmark 
of total assets, of which it represents 1% (2016: 1%). 
We reported to the Audit and Risk Committee any 
corrected or uncorrected identified misstatements 
relating to the statement of financial position 
exceeding £840,000 (2016: £400,000), in addition 
to other identified misstatements that warranted 
reporting on qualitative grounds. 

Of the Group’s 38 components (2016: 33), the 
Group audit team subjected 15 (2016: 8) to audits 
to component materiality for Group audit purposes. 
Due to nature of the Group’s operations and the audit 
approach, aggregation risk was deemed to be low 
and component materiality was set at £16.3m (2016: 
£7.9m). These 15 entities account for 95.7% of the 
Group’s portfolio revenue and return (2016: 89.3%), 
86.2% of total profits and losses that made up the 
Group’s profit before tax (2016: 78.6%) and 98.5% of 
the Group’s total assets (2016: 97.4%). 

For the remaining components, we performed 
specified risk-focused audit procedures on specific 
balances and we performed analysis at an aggregated 
group level to re-examine our assessment that there 
were no significant risks of material misstatement 
within these.

identifiable assets acquired, including intangible 
assets, and liabilities assumed are recognised 
separately from goodwill. All assets acquired and 
liabilities assumed in the acquisition of Touchstone 
Innovations plc are measured at acquisition-date 
fair value. 

The valuation of the unquoted portfolio has been 
estimated by the directors based on methods such 
as prices of recent investment and discounted 
cash flows. 

The Directors have exercised judgement in 
identifying and estimating the fair value of the 
unquoted investments. For any movements in fair 
value of the assets at the acquisition date, there 
would be a corresponding impact on the amount 
of goodwill recognised.

 y Our response – Our procedures included:

 — Our sector experience: We considered the 

rationale for the acquisition to challenge the 
identification of intangible assets and goodwill. 
We inspected available documents including 
the acquisition agreements and due diligence 
reports, inspected board minutes and discussed 
with Directors;

 — Assessing methodology: Assessing the 
principles and integrity of the valuation 
methods used by the directors to determine fair 
value of net assets at the acquisition date;

 — Assessing Transparency: We assessed the 

Group’s disclosures regarding the acquisition 
and estimation assumptions and whether they 
have been disclosed appropriately.

 — Our results: We found the identification and 

valuation of goodwill acquired to be acceptable.

112

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Auditor’s report

Directors’ Remuneration Report 
In our opinion the part of the Directors’ Remuneration 
Report to be audited has been properly prepared in 
accordance with the Companies Act 2006. 

Disclosures of principal risks and  
longer-term viability 
Based on the knowledge we acquired during our 
financial statements audit, we have nothing material 
to add or draw attention to in relation to: 

 y the directors’ confirmation within the viability 

statement page 53 that they have carried out a 
robust assessment of the principal risks facing 
the Group, including those that would threaten its 
business model, future performance, solvency and 
liquidity; 

 y the Principal Risks disclosures describing these 

risks and explaining how they are being managed 
and mitigated; and 

 y the directors’ explanation in the viability statement 
of how they have assessed the prospects of the 
Group, over what period they have done so and 
why they considered that period to be appropriate, 
and their statement as to whether they have a 
reasonable expectation that the Group will be able 
to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as 
they fall due over the period of their assessment, 
including any related disclosures drawing attention 
to any necessary qualifications or assumptions. 

Under the Listing Rules we are required to review 
the viability statement. We have nothing to report in 
this respect. 

4. We have nothing to report on 
going concern
We are required to report to you if:

 y we have anything material to add or draw 

attention to in relation to the directors’ statement 
in note 1 to the financial statements on the use of 
the going concern basis of accounting with no 
material uncertainties that may cast significant 
doubt over the Group and Company’s use of that 
basis for a period of at least twelve months from 
the date of approval of the financial statements; or 

 y if the related statement under the Listing Rules set 
out on page 53 is materially inconsistent with our 
audit knowledge. 

We have nothing to report in these respects. 

5. We have nothing to report  
on the other information in the  
Annual Report 
The directors are responsible for the other 
information presented in the Annual Report together 
with the financial statements. Our opinion on the 
financial statements does not cover the other 
information and, accordingly, we do not express an 
audit opinion or, except as explicitly stated below, any 
form of assurance conclusion thereon. 

Our responsibility is to read the other information 
and, in doing so, consider whether, based on our 
financial statements audit work, the information 
therein is materially misstated or inconsistent with the 
financial statements or our audit knowledge. Based 
solely on that work we have not identified material 
misstatements in the other information.

Strategic report and directors’ report 
Based solely on our work on the other information: 

 y we have not identified material misstatements in 
the strategic report and the directors’ report; 

 y in our opinion the information given in those 

reports for the financial year is consistent with the 
financial statements; and 

 y in our opinion those reports have been prepared in 

accordance with the Companies Act 2006. 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

113

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comIndependent auditor’s report CONTINUED
TO THE MEMBERS OF IP GROUP PLC ONLY

Corporate governance disclosures 
We are required to report to you if: 

 y we have identified material inconsistencies 

between the knowledge we acquired during 
our financial statements audit and the directors’ 
statement that they consider that the annual 
report and financial statements taken as a whole is 
fair, balanced and understandable and provides the 
information necessary for shareholders to assess 
the Group’s position and performance, business 
model and strategy; or 

 y the section of the annual report describing 
the work of the Audit Committee does not 
appropriately address matters communicated by 
us to the Audit Committee.

We are required to report to you if the Corporate 
Governance Statement does not properly disclose 
a departure from the eleven provisions of the UK 
Corporate Governance Code specified by the Listing 
Rules for our review. 

We have nothing to report in these respects. 

Based solely on our work on the other information 
described above: 

 y with respect to the Corporate Governance 

Statement disclosures about internal control and 
risk management systems in relation to financial 
reporting processes and about share capital 
structures:

 — we have not identified material misstatements 

therein; and 

 — the information therein is consistent with the 

financial statements; and 

 y in our opinion, the Corporate Governance 

Statement has been prepared in accordance 
with relevant rules of the Disclosure Guidance 
and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct 
Authority.

6. We have nothing to report on 
the other matters on which we are 
required to report by exception 
Under the Companies Act 2006, we are required to 
report to you if, in our opinion: 

 y adequate accounting records have not been kept 
by the parent Company, or returns adequate for 
our audit have not been received from branches 
not visited by us; or 

 y the parent Company financial statements and the 
part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be 
audited are not in agreement with the accounting 
records and returns; or 

 y certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration 

specified by law are not made; or 

 y we have not received all the information and 

explanations we require for our audit.

We have nothing to report in these respects. 

7. Respective responsibilities 
Directors’ responsibilities 
As explained more fully in their statement set out 
on page 107, the directors are responsible for: the 
preparation of the financial statements including 
being satisfied that they give a true and fair view; 
such internal control as they determine is necessary 
to enable the preparation of financial statements that 
are free from material misstatement, whether due 
to fraud or error; assessing the Group and parent 
Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, 
disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going 
concern; and using the going concern basis of 
accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the 
Group or the parent Company or to cease operations, 
or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

114

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Auditor’s report

Auditor’s responsibilities 
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance 
about whether the financial statements as a whole 
are free from material misstatement, whether due 
to fraud or other irregularities (see below), or error, 
and to issue our opinion in an auditor’s report. 
Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, 
but does not guarantee that an audit conducted 
in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a 
material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements 
can arise from fraud, other irregularities or error and 
are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, 
they could reasonably be expected to influence the 
economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the 
financial statements. 

8. The purpose of our audit 
work and to whom we owe our 
responsibilities 
This report is made solely to the Company’s 
members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 
3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit 
work has been undertaken so that we might state 
to the Company’s members those matters we are 
required to state to them in an auditor’s report and 
for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted 
by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to 
anyone other than the Company and the Company’s 
members, as a body, for our audit work, for this 
report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

JONATHAN MILLS 
(SENIOR STATUTORY AUDITOR) 
for and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor 
Chartered Accountants 
15 Canada Square
London
E14 5GL
29 March 2018

A fuller description of our responsibilities is  
provided on the FRC’s website at  
www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.

Irregularities – ability to detect

We identified areas of laws and regulations that could 
reasonably be expected to have a material effect on 
the financial statements from our sector experience, 
through discussion with the directors and other 
management (as required by auditing standards), 
and from inspection of the Group’s regulatory 
correspondence.

We had regard to laws and regulations in areas that 
directly affect the financial statements including 
financial reporting (including related company 
legislation) and taxation legislation. We considered 
the extent of compliance with those laws and 
regulations as part of our procedures on the related 
financial statements items. 

We communicated identified laws and regulations 
throughout our team and remained alert to any 
indications of non-compliance throughout the audit

As with any audit, there remained a higher risk of 
non-detection of non-compliance with relevant 
laws and regulations (irregularities), as these may 
involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, 
misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

115

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comConsolidated statement of comprehensive income
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

Portfolio return and revenue

Change in fair value of equity and debt investments

Gain/(loss) on disposal of equity investments

Gain on deconsolidation of subsidiary

Change in fair value of limited and limited liability partnership interests

Change in fair value of contingent value right

Other portfolio income

Licensing income

Revenue from services and other income

Administrative expenses

Research and development costs

Carried interest plan charge

Share-based payment charge

Amortisation of intangible assets

Acquisition and restructuring costs

Other administrative expenses

Operating profit/(loss)

Finance income 

Finance costs

Profit/(loss) before taxation

Taxation

Profit/(loss) for the year 

Other comprehensive income

Exchange differences on translating foreign operations

Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the year

Attributable to:

Equity holders of the parent

Non-controlling interest

Earnings per share

Basic (p)

Diluted (p)

Note

15

23

17

22

13

8

7

10

11

11

2017
£m

49.0

0.1

45.1

(0.2)

—

—

3.4

6.1

103.5

(2.9)

(1.3)

(2.4)

(3.9)

(9.1)

(30.8)

(50.4)

53.1

1.0

(0.7)

53.4

—

53.4

—

53.4

49.7

3.7

53.4

7.05

7.04

2016
£m

7.0

(0.5)

—

(0.3)

(1.4)

—

0.2

2.6

7.6

(1.0)

—

(1.5)

(5.6)

(0.4)

(14.5)

(23.0)

(15.4)

1.1

(0.5)

(14.8)

—

(14.8)

0.1

(14.7)

(13.5)

(1.2)

(14.7)

(2.39)

(2.39)

116

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Group primary statements

Consolidated statement of financial position
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2017

ASSETS

Non-current assets
Intangible assets:

 Goodwill

 Acquired intangible assets

Property, plant and equipment

Portfolio:

 Equity investments

 Debt investments

Limited and limited liability partnership interests

Total non-current assets

Current assets
Trade and other receivables

Deposits

Cash and cash equivalents

Total current assets

Total assets

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Equity attributable to owners of the parent

Called up share capital

Share premium account

Merger reserve

Retained earnings

Total equity attributable to equity holders
Non-controlling interest

Total equity

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables

EIB debt facility

Non-current liabilities
EIB debt facility

Carried interest plan liability

Loans from limited partners of consolidated funds

Provisions for liabilities and charges

Total equity and liabilities

Registered number: 4204490

Note

2017
£m

2016
£m

12

13

15

15

23

16

20

18

19

19

19

172.1

10.2

2.0

1,085.4

45.2

11.0

1,325.9

8.3

95.0

231.3

334.6

1,660.5

21.1

683.1

508.6

291.7

1,504.5

4.0

1,508.5

19.7

6.3

97.7

8.8

13.1

6.4

57.1

5.1

0.2

594.9

19.1

4.2

680.6

2.6

—

112.3

114.9

795.5

11.3

504.7

12.8

239.6

768.4

0.3

768.7

2.1

—

14.9

—

9.8

—

1,660.5

795.5

The accompanying notes form an integral part of the financial statements. The financial statements on pages 
116 to 119 were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 29 March 2018 and were signed 
on its behalf by:

GREG SMITH
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

ALAN AUBREY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

117

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comConsolidated statement of cash flows
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

Operating activities

Operating profit/(loss) for the period

Adjusted for:

Change in fair value of equity and debt investments

Change in fair value of limited and limited liability partnership interests

Change in fair value of contingent value right

(Gain)/loss on disposal of equity investments

Gain on deconsolidation of subsidiary

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

Amortisation of intangible non-current assets

Long term incentive carry scheme charge

Fees settled in the form of equity

Share-based payment charge

Changes in working capital

(Increase)/decrease in trade and other receivables

Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables 

Increase in non-current liabilities

Other operating cash flows

Net interest received

Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities

Investing activities

Purchase of property, plant and equipment

Purchase of equity and debt investments

Investment in limited and limited liability partnerships

Net cash flow to deposits

Acquisition of subsidiary undertaking

Proceeds from sale of equity investments

Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities

Financing activities

Proceeds from the issue of share capital

Transaction costs related to issue of share capital

Proceeds from drawdown of EIB facility

Net cash inflow from financing activities

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year

Effect of foreign exchange rate changes

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year

(i) Re-presented from prior year. See note 1 for details. 

Note

15

13

15

19

2017
£m

53.1

(49.0)

0.2

—

(0.1)

(45.1)

0.9

3.9

1.3

(0.5)

2.4

(6.1)

7.7

8.6

0.3

(22.4)

(1.6)

(71.2)

(1.4)

(95.0)

107.8

6.6

(54.8)

184.7

(3.7)

15.0

196.0

118.8

112.3

0.2

231.3

Re-presented
2016(i)
£m

(15.4)

(7.0)

0.3

1.4

0.5

—

0.1

5.6

—

(0.4)

1.5

0.2

(1.8)

2.7

0.9

(11.4)

(0.1)

(69.7)

(0.1)

70.0

—

14.7

14.8

—

—

—

—

3.4

108.8

0.1

112.3

118

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Group primary statements

Consolidated statement of changes in equity
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

Attributable to equity holders of the parent

Share 
capital 
£m

11.3

—

—

11.3

—

9.8

—

21.1

Share 
premium(i) 

£m

504.7

—

—

504.7

—

178.4

—

Merger 
reserve(ii) 
£m

12.8

—

—

12.8

—

495.8

—

Retained 
earnings(iii) 

£m

251.6

(13.5)

1.5

239.6

49.7

—

2.4

Total 
£m

780.4

(13.5)

1.5

768.4

49.7

684.0

2.4

Non-
controlling 

interest(iv) 

£m

1.5

(1.2)

—

0.3

3.7

—

—

Total 
equity 
£m

781.9

(14.7)

1.5

768.7

53.4

684.0

2.4

683.1

508.6

291.7

1,504.5

4.0

1,508.5

At 1 January 2016

Comprehensive income

Equity-settled

share-based payments

At 1 January 2017

Comprehensive income

Issue of equity

Equity-settled 
share-based payments

At 31 December 2017

i 

Share premium — Amount subscribed for share capital in excess of nominal value, net of directly attributable issue costs.

ii  Merger reserve — Amount subscribed for share capital in excess of nominal value in relation to the qualifying acquisition of subsidiary 

undertakings.

iii  Retained earnings — Cumulative net gains and losses recognised in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income net of associated 

share-based payments credits.

iv  Non-controlling interest — Share of profits attributable to the Limited Partners of IP Venture Fund II LP – a consolidated fund which was created 

in May 2013, as well as the equity invested in partially-owned subsidiaries that is held by third parties.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

119

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comNotes to the consolidated financial statements

1. Accounting Policies
Basis of preparation
The Annual Report and Accounts of IP Group plc (“IP Group” or the “Company”) and its subsidiary companies 
(together, the “Group”) are for the year ended 31 December 2017. The principal accounting policies adopted in 
the preparation of the financial statements are set out below. The policies have been consistently applied to 
all the years presented, unless otherwise stated. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance 
with International Financial Reporting Standards, International Accounting Standards and Interpretations 
(collectively “IFRS”) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) as adopted by the 
European Union (“adopted IFRSs”). 

The preparation of financial statements in compliance with IFRS requires the use of certain critical accounting 
estimates. It also requires Group management to exercise judgement in the most appropriate selection of 
the Group’s accounting policies. The areas where significant judgements and estimates have been made in 
preparing the financial statements and their effect are disclosed in note 3.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis, as the directors are satisfied that the Group and 
parent Company have the resources to continue in business for the foreseeable future. In making this assessment, 
the directors have considered a wide range of information relating to present and future conditions, including 
future projections of profitability, cash flows and capital resources.

Changes in accounting policies
(i) New standards, interpretations and amendments effective from 1 January 2017

No new standards, interpretations and amendments effective for the first time from 1 January 2017 have had a 
material effect on the Group’s financial statements.

(ii) New standards, interpretations and amendments not yet effective

The following new standards, which have not been applied in these financial statements, will or may have an 
effect on the Group’s future financial statements:

IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers: 

IFRS 15 was issued on 28 May 2014 and provides a global standard on revenue recognition which aligns the 
IFRS and US GAAP guidance. It replaces existing revenue recognition guidance, including IAS 18 revenue, IAS 
11 Construction Contracts and IFRIC 13 Customer Loyalty Programmes. The Group has assessed the potential 
impact on its consolidated financial statements resulting from the application of IFRS 15 and does not foresee 
any material effect when the Standard is applied. While early adoption is permitted, IFRS 15 has an effective 
date of 1 January 2018 with the year ending 31 December 2018 being the first annual financial statements to 
which the standard applies.

IFRS 9 Financial Instruments:

IFRS 9 will eventually replace IAS 39 in its entirety. The process has been divided into three main components, 
being classification and measurement; impairment; and hedge accounting. The Group provisionally assesses 
the potential effect to be immaterial given the majority of its financial assets are currently held at fair value 
through profit or loss. The effective date is 1 January 2018.

120

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20171. Accounting Policies continued
IFRS 16 Leases:

IFRS 16 Leases was issued on 13 January 2016 and replaces IAS 17 Leases. IFRS 16 requires all operating leases 
in excess of one year, where the Group is the lessee, to be included on the Group’s statement of financial 
position, and recognised as a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and a related lease liability representing the obligation 
to make lease payments. The ROU asset will be amortised on a straight-line basis with the lease liability being 
amortised using the effective interest method. Optional exemptions are available under IFRS 16 for short-term 
leases (lease terms less than 12 months) and for small-value leases. Based on the preliminary assessment, the 
Group expects its existing operating lease arrangements as a lessee to be recognised as ROU assets with 
corresponding lease liabilities under the new standard. The Group has assessed the potential impact on its 
consolidated financial statements resulting from the application of IFRS 16 and does not foresee any material 
effect when the Standard is applied. Early adoption is permitted if IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with 
customers has been applied but IFRS 16 has an effective date of 1 January 2019 with the year ending  
31 December 2019 being the first annual financial statements to which the standard applies.

None of the other new standards, interpretations and amendments not yet effective are expected to have a 
material effect on the Group’s future financial statements.

Basis of consolidation
(i) Business Combinations

The Group accounts for business combinations using the acquisition method from the date that control is 
transferred to the Group (see (ii) Subsidiaries below). Both the identifiable net assets and the consideration 
transferred in the acquisition are measured at fair value at the date of acquisition and transaction costs are 
expensed as incurred. Goodwill arising on acquisitions is tested annually for impairment. In instances where 
the Group owns a non-controlling stake prior to acquisition the step acquisition method is applied, and any 
gain or losses on the fair value of the pre-acquisition holding is recognised in the consolidated statement of 
comprehensive income.

(ii) Subsidiaries

Where the Group has control over an entity, it is classified as a subsidiary. As per IFRS 10, an entity is classed 
as under the control of the Group when all three of the following elements are present: power over the entity; 
exposure to variable returns from the entity; and the ability of the Group to use its power to affect those 
variable returns. Control is reassessed whenever facts and circumstances indicate that there may be a change 
in any of these elements of control. 

In situations where the Company has the practical ability to direct the relevant activities of the investee 
without holding the majority of the voting rights, it is considered that de facto control exists. In determining 
whether de facto control exists the Group considers all relevant facts and circumstances, including:

 y The size of the Company’s voting rights relative to both the size and dispersion of other parties who hold 

voting rights;

 y Substantive potential voting rights held by the company and by other parties;

 y Other contractual arrangements; and 

 y Historic patterns in voting attendance.

The consolidated financial statements present the results of the Company and its subsidiaries as if they formed 
a single entity. Intercompany transactions and balances between Group companies are therefore eliminated 
in full. The consolidated financial statements incorporate the results of business combinations using the 
acquisition method. In the statement of financial position, the acquiree’s identifiable assets and liabilities are 
initially recognised at their fair values at the acquisition date. Contingent liabilities dependent on the disposed 
value of an associated investment are only recognised when the fair value is above the associated threshold. 
The results of acquired operations are included in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income from 
the date on which control is obtained. They are consolidated until the date on which control ceases.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

121

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

1. Accounting Policies continued
(iii) Associates

Associates are entities over which the Group has significant influence, but does not control, generally 
accompanied by a shareholding of between 20% and 50% of the voting rights.

No associates are presented on the consolidated statement of financial position as the Group elects to hold such 
investments at fair value in the consolidated statement of financial position. This treatment is permitted by IAS 28 
Investment in Associates and Joint Ventures, which permits investments held by entities that are akin to venture 
capital organisations to be excluded from its measurement methodology requirements where those investments 
are designated, upon initial recognition, as at fair value through profit or loss and accounted for in accordance 
with IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement. Changes in fair value of associates are 
recognised in profit or loss in the period of the change. The Group has no interests in associates through which it 
carries on its business.

The disclosures required by Section 409 of the Companies Act 2006 for associated undertakings are included 
in Note 10 of the Company financial statements. Similarly, those investments which may not have qualified as 
Associate but fall within the wider scope of significant holdings and so are subject to Section 409 disclosure 
acts are also included in Note 10 of the Company financial statements.

(iv) Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships (“Limited Partnerships”)

Group entities act as general partner and investment manager to the following Limited Partnerships:

Name

IP Venture Fund II LP (“IPVFII”)

IP Venture Fund LP (“IPVF”)

The North East Technology Fund LP (“NETF”)

Interest 
in limited 
partnership
%

33.3

10.0

—

The Group receives compensation for its role as investment manager to these Limited Partnerships including 
fixed fees and performance fees. The directors consider that these amounts are in substance and form “normal 
market rate” compensation for its role as investment manager. 

In order to determine whether these Limited Partnerships were required to be consolidated, the presence of 
the three elements of control noted in part (ii) was examined. 

The Group’s significant stake in IPVFII creates a significant exposure to the variability of returns from those 
interests and the Group’s ability to direct the operations of the fund would result in IP Group obtaining the 
benefits of its activities. As such, IPVFII meets the criteria in IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements and is 
consequently consolidated.

In the case of IPVF, the directors consider that the minority Limited Partnership interest does not create an 
exposure of such significance that it indicates that the Group acts as anything other than an agent for the 
other Limited Partners in the arrangement. This is further supported by the presence of a strict investment 
policy and the inability for the general partner to change the restrictive terms of that policy other than with 
agreement of 100% of IPVF’s Limited Partners.

Similarly, the lack of a stake in NETF indicates the Group’s role as an agent for the limited partner. As a result, 
the Directors consider that the Group does not have the power to govern the operations of these limited 
partnerships so as to obtain benefits from their activities and accordingly do not meet the definition of a 
subsidiary under IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements. However, the Group does have the power to 
exercise significant influence over its limited partnerships and accordingly the Group’s accounting treatment 
for the interest in IPVF is consistent with that of associates as described earlier in this report, i.e. in accordance 
with IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement and designated as at fair value through profit 
or loss on initial recognition. 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20171. Accounting Policies continued
In addition to Limited Partnerships where Group entities act as general partner and investment manager the 
Group has interests in three further entities which are all managed by third parties:

Name

UCL Technology Fund LP (“UCL Fund”)

Technikos LLP (“Technikos”)

Apollo Therapeutics LLP (“Apollo Fund”)

Interest 
in limited 
partnership
%

46.4

18.0

8.3

The Group has a 46.4% interest in the total capital commitments of the UCL Technology Fund LP (“UCL 
Fund”). The Group has committed £24.8m to the fund alongside the European Investment Fund (“EIF”), 
University College London and other investors. Participation in the fund provides the Group with visibility of 
potential intellectual property from across University College London’s research base.

The Group has a 18.0% interest in the total capital commitments of Technikos LLP (“Technikos”). 

The Group has an 8.3% interest in the total capital commitments of Apollo Therapeutics LLP (“Apollo”), a 
£40.0m venture between AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and the technology transfer 
offices of Imperial College London (via Imperial Innovations Limited), University College London (via UCL 
Business plc) and the University of Cambridge (via Cambridge Enterprise Limited). The venture supports 
the translation of academic therapeutic science into innovative new medicines by combining the skills of the 
university academics with industry expertise at an early stage. 

(v) Non-controlling interests

The total comprehensive income, assets and liabilities of non-wholly owned subsidiaries are attributed to 
owners of the parent and to the non-controlling interests in proportion to their relative ownership interests.

Portfolio return and revenue 
Change in fair value

Change in fair value of equity and debt investments represents revaluation gains and losses on the Group’s 
portfolio of investments. Gains on disposal of equity investments represent the difference between the fair 
value of consideration received and the carrying value at the start of the accounting period on the disposal 
of equity investments. Change in fair value of Limited Partnership investments represents revaluation gains 
and losses on the Group’s investments in Limited Partnership funds. Changes in fair values of assets do not 
constitute revenue. 

Licence income

Income from licensing and similar income is recognised on an accruals basis in accordance with the terms of 
the relevant licensing agreements. Income from milestone income is recognised once performance obligations 
are satisfied, on an accruals basis and in accordance with the terms of the relevant licensing agreements.

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CONTINUED

1. Accounting Policies continued
Revenue from services and other income

All revenue from services is generated within the United Kingdom and is stated exclusive of value added tax. 
Revenue from services and other income comprises:

Advisory fees

Fees earned from the provision of business support services are recognised as the related services are 
provided. Corporate finance advisory fees are generally earned as a fixed percentage of total funds raised 
and recognised at the time the related transaction is successfully concluded. In some instances, these fees are 
settled via the issue of equity in the company receiving the corporate finance services at the same price per 
share as equity issued as part the financing round to which the advisory fees apply. 

Fund management services

Fund management fees include fiduciary fund management fees which are generally earned as a fixed 
percentage of total funds under management and are recognised as the related services are provided and 
performance fees payable from realisation of agreed returns to investors which are recognised as performance 
criterion are met. 

Dividends

Dividends receivable from equity shares are included within other portfolio income and recognised on the 
ex-dividend date or, where no ex-dividend date is quoted, are recognised when the Group’s right to receive 
payment is established.

Property, plant and equipment
All property, plant and equipment is shown at cost less subsequent depreciation and impairment. Cost includes 
expenditure that is attributable to the acquisition of the items. Depreciation on assets is calculated using the 
straight-line method to allocate the cost of each asset to its residual value over its estimated useful life, as 
follows:

Fixtures and fittings

Over 3 to 5 years

Computer equipment

Over 3 to 5 years

The assets’ residual values and useful lives are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at each reporting date.

Intangible assets
Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquisition over the fair value of the net identifiable assets 
of the acquired subsidiary at the date of acquisition. Goodwill on acquisitions of subsidiaries is included 
in intangible assets and allocated from the acquisition date to each of the Group’s cash-generating units 
(“CGUs”) that are expected to benefit from the business combination. Goodwill may be allocated to CGUs in 
both the acquired business and in the existing business.

Other intangible assets

Other intangible assets represent contractual arrangements and memorandums of understanding with 
UK universities acquired through acquisition of subsidiaries. At the date of acquisition, the cost of these 
intangibles as a share of the larger acquisition was calculated and subsequently the assets are held at 
amortised cost.

124

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20171. Accounting Policies continued
Impairment of intangible assets (including goodwill)

Goodwill is not subject to amortisation but is tested for impairment annually and whenever events or 
circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Assets that are subject to 
amortisation are tested for impairment when events or a change in circumstances indicate that the carrying 
amount may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the carrying 
amount exceeds its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is the higher of the asset’s fair value less 
costs to sell and the value in use. For the purposes of assessing impairments, assets are grouped at the lowest 
levels for which there are identifiable cash flows (i.e. CGUs).

Financial assets
In respect of regular way purchases or sales, the Group uses trade date accounting to recognise or 
derecognise financial assets.

Financial assets are derecognised when the rights to receive cash flows from the assets have expired or the 
Group has transferred substantially all risks and rewards of ownership.

The Group classifies its financial assets into one of the categories listed below, depending on the purpose 
for which the asset was acquired. None of the Group’s financial assets are categorised as held to maturity or 
available for sale. 

(i) At fair value through profit or loss

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss are either financial assets held for trading or financial assets 
which are designated at fair value through profit or loss on initial recognition. 

This category includes equity investments, debt investments, equity rights, contingent value rights and 
investments in limited partnerships. Investments in associated undertakings, which are held by the Group with 
a view to the ultimate realisation of capital gains, are also categorised as at fair value through profit or loss. 
This measurement basis is consistent with the fact that the Group’s performance in respect of investments 
in equity investments, limited partnerships and associated undertakings is evaluated on a fair value basis in 
accordance with an established investment strategy. 

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss are initially recognised at fair value and any gains or losses 
arising from subsequent changes in fair value are presented in profit or loss in the statement of comprehensive 
income in the period which they arise.

Fair value hierarchy

The Group classifies financial assets using a fair value hierarchy that reflects the significance of the inputs used 
in making the related fair value measurements. The level in the fair value hierarchy, within which a financial 
asset is classified, is determined on the basis of the lowest level input that is significant to that asset’s fair value 
measurement. The fair value hierarchy has the following levels:

Level 1 — Quoted prices in active markets.

Level 2 — Inputs other than quoted prices that are observable, such as prices from market transactions. 

Level 3 — One or more inputs that are not based on observable market data.

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CONTINUED

1. Accounting Policies continued
Equity investments

The fair values of quoted investments are based on bid prices in an active market at the reporting date. 
The fair value of unlisted securities is established using valuation techniques. These include the use of 
recent arm’s length transactions, discounted cash flow analysis and earnings multiples. Wherever possible, 
the Group uses valuation techniques which make maximum use of market-based inputs. Accordingly, the 
valuation methodology used most commonly by the Group is the ‘price of recent investment’ contained in the 
International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation Guidelines (the “IPEVCV Guidelines”) endorsed by 
the British & European Venture Capital Associations. The following considerations are used when calculating 
the fair value of unlisted securities:

Cost

Where the investment being valued was itself made recently, its cost may provide a good indication of fair 
value unless there is objective evidence that the investment has since been impaired, such as observable data 
suggesting a deterioration of the financial, technical, or commercial performance of the underlying business.

Price of recent investment

The Group considers that fair value estimates, which are based entirely on observable market data, will be 
of greater reliability than those based on assumptions and, accordingly, where there has been any recent 
investment by third parties, the price of that investment will generally provide a basis of the valuation. The 
length of period for which it remains appropriate to use the price of recent investment depends on the specific 
circumstances of the investment and the stability of the external environment.

Given the nature of the Group’s investments in seed, start-up and early-stage companies, where there are often 
no current and no short-term future earnings or positive cash flows, it can be difficult to gauge the probability 
and financial impact of the success or failure of development or research activities and to make reliable cash 
flow forecasts. Consequently, the most appropriate approach to determine fair value is a methodology that is 
based on market data, that being the price of a recent investment. Where the Group considers that the price 
of recent investment, unadjusted, is no longer relevant and there are limited or no comparable companies or 
transactions from which to infer value, the Group carries out an enhanced assessment based on milestone 
analysis and/or industry and sector analysis. In applying the milestone analysis approach to investments in 
companies in early or development stages the Group seeks to determine whether there is an indication of 
change in fair value based on a consideration of performance against any milestones that were set at the time 
of the original investment decision, as well as taking into consideration the key market drivers of the investee 
company and the overall economic environment. 

Where the equity structure of a portfolio company involves different class rights in a sale or liquidity event, the 
Group takes these different rights into account when forming a view on the value of its investment.

Where the Group considers that there is an indication that the fair value has changed, an estimation is made 
of the required amount of any adjustment from the last price of recent investment, or an alternative valuation 
technique is used where this is deemed more appropriate. Where a deterioration in value has occurred, the 
Group reduces the carrying value of the investment to reflect the estimated decrease. If there is evidence 
of value creation the Group may consider increasing the carrying value of the investment; however, in the 
absence of additional financing rounds or profit generation it can be difficult to determine the value that 
a purchaser may place on positive developments given the potential outcome and the costs and risks to 
achieving that outcome and accordingly caution is applied.

Factors that the Group considers include, inter alia, technical measures such as product development phases 
and patent approvals, financial measures such as cash burn rate and profitability expectations, and market and 
sales measures such as testing phases, product launches and market introduction. 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20171. Accounting Policies continued
Other valuation techniques

Where it is no longer deemed appropriate to use the price of recent investment as a valuation basis, the Group 
uses alternative methodologies in the IPEVCV Guidelines such as discounted cash flows (“DCF”) or price-
earnings multiples. DCF involves estimating the fair value of a business by calculating the present value of 
expected future cash flows, based on the most recent forecasts in respect of the underlying business. 

When using the earnings multiple methodology, earnings before interest and tax (“EBIT”) are generally  
used, adjusted to a maintainable level. A suitable earnings multiple is derived from an equivalent business or 
group of businesses, for which the average price-earnings multiple for the relevant sector index can generally 
be considered a suitable proxy. This multiple is applied to earnings to derive an enterprise value which is then 
discounted by up to 60% for non-marketability and other risks inherent to businesses in early stages  
of operation. 

No reliable estimate

Where a fair value cannot be estimated reliably, the investment is reported at the carrying value at the previous 
reporting date unless there is objective evidence that the investment has since been impaired.

Debt investments

Debt investments are generally unquoted debt instruments which are convertible to equity at a future point in 
time. Such instruments are considered to be hybrid instruments containing a fixed rate debt host contract with 
an embedded equity derivative. The Group designates the entire hybrid contract at fair value through profit or 
loss on initial recognition and, accordingly, the embedded derivative is not separated from the host contract 
and accounted for separately. The fair value of debt on initial recognition is measured at fair value which is 
equal to cost and subsequent remeasurement will be recognised as changes in fair value in the statement of 
comprehensive income.

Contingent value rights

In instances where the Group receives contingent financial consideration upon the disposal of a financial asset, 
the resulting asset shall be recognised and designated as at fair value through profit and loss, and treated 
accordingly.

(ii) Loans and receivables

These assets are non-derivative financial assets with fixed and determinable payments that are not quoted in 
an active market. They arise principally through the provision of services to customers (trade receivables) and 
are carried at cost less provision for impairment.

Deposits

Deposits comprise longer-term deposits held with financial institutions with an original maturity of greater 
than three months.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and short-term deposits held with financial institutions with an 
original maturity of three months or less.

The directors have reconsidered the classification of cash flows related to amounts held on deposit and have 
presented the net cash flow to Deposits within Investing activities, rather than as an adjustment within cash 
flows from operating activities. Comparatives have been represented accordingly.

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CONTINUED

1. Accounting Policies continued
Financial liabilities
Current financial liabilities are composed of trade payables and other short-term monetary liabilities, which are 
recognised at amortised cost. 

Non-current liabilities are composed of loans from Limited Partners of consolidated funds, outstanding 
amounts drawn down from a debt facility provided by the European Investment Bank, carried interest plans 
liabilities, provisions for liabilities and charges, liabilities recognised in relation to Higher Education Innovation 
Fund (HEIF) and University Challenge Seed Fund (UCSF) investment revenue sharing schemes and deferred 
consideration payable on acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors. 

The loans from Limited Partners of consolidated funds are repayable only upon the applicable funds 
generating sufficient returns to repay the Limited Partners. Management anticipates that the funds will 
generate the required returns and consequently recognises the full associated liabilities. Non-current liabilities 
are recognised initially at fair value net of transaction costs incurred, and subsequently at amortised cost.

The Group operates a carried interest plan or Long-Term Incentive Carry Scheme (“LTICS”) for eligible 
employees. Before any payment to a participant becomes due under the scheme, the Group must first have 
received back the amount of their investment in the relevant vintage together with a hurdle rate of 8% per 
annum compound on their investment. At the point at which the hurdle rate has been exceeded a provision 
is included for the unrealised gain due to members of the scheme vintage. The provision is measured 
by reference to the fair value of the relevant investments, with movements in the provision taken to the 
consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

The Group provides for liabilities in respect of revenue sharing with Imperial College London, arising under the 
Technology Pipeline Agreement (“TPA”), and other parties. Provision for revenue-share, based on fair value, on 
the future realisation of quoted and unquoted investments is recognised as part of the movement in fair value 
through profit or loss. 

Deferred and contingent consideration payable on acquisition are comprised of amounts due to the sellers of 
Parkwalk Advisors. 

Unless otherwise indicated, the carrying amounts of the Group’s financial liabilities are a reasonable 
approximation to their fair value.

Share capital
Financial instruments issued by the Group are treated as equity if the holders have only a residual interest 
in the Group’s assets after deducting all liabilities. The objective of the Group is to manage capital so as to 
provide shareholders with above average returns through capital growth over the medium to long-term. The 
Group considers its capital to comprise its share capital, share premium, merger reserve and retained earnings.

Top Technology Ventures Limited, Parkwalk Advisors Ltd and Touchstone Investment Management Limited, 
are Group subsidiaries which are subject to external capital requirements imposed by the Financial Conduct 
Authority (“FCA”) and as such must ensure that it has sufficient capital to satisfy these requirements. The Group 
ensures it remains compliant with these requirements as described in their respective financial statements. 

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20171. Accounting Policies continued
Employee benefits
(i) Pension obligations

The Group operates a company defined contribution pension scheme for which all employees are eligible. The 
assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Group in independently administered funds. The 
Group currently makes contributions on behalf of employees to this scheme or to employee personal pension 
schemes on an individual basis. The Group has no further payment obligations once the contributions have 
been paid. The contributions are recognised as employee benefit expenses when they are due.

(ii) Share-based payments

The Group engages in equity-settled share-based payment transactions in respect of services receivable from 
employees, by granting employees conditional awards of ordinary shares subject to certain vesting conditions. 

Conditional awards of shares are made pursuant to the Group’s Long-Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) awards and/
or the Group’s Annual Incentive Scheme (“AIS”). The fair value of the shares is estimated at the date of grant, 
taking into account the terms and conditions of the award, including market-based performance conditions. 

The fair value at the date of grant is recognised as an expense over the period that the employee provides 
services, generally the period between the start of the performance period and the vesting date of the shares. 
The corresponding credit is recognised in retained earnings within total equity. The fair value of services is 
calculated using the market value on the date of award and is adjusted for expected and actual levels of 
vesting. Where conditional awards of shares lapse the expense recognised to date is credited to the statement 
of comprehensive income in the year in which they lapse.

Where the terms for an equity-settled award are modified, and the modification increases the total fair value 
of the share-based payment, or is otherwise beneficial to the employee at the date of modification, the 
incremental fair value is amortised over the vesting period.

Deferred tax
Full provision is made for deferred tax on all temporary differences resulting from the carrying value of an 
asset or liability and its tax base. Deferred tax is determined using tax rates (and laws) that have been enacted 
or substantively enacted by the reporting date and are expected to apply when the related deferred tax asset 
is realised or deferred tax liability settled. Deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable 
that the deferred tax asset will be recovered in the future.

Leases
Leases where the lessor retains substantially all of the risks and rewards of ownership are classified as 
operating leases. Payments made under operating leases are charged to administrative expenses in the 
statement of comprehensive income on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

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CONTINUED

2. Financial Risk Management
As set out in the Principal risks and uncertainties section on pages 46 to 53, the Group is exposed, through  
its normal operations, to a number of financial risks, the most significant of which are market, liquidity and 
credit risks. 

In general, risk management is carried out throughout the Group under policies approved by the Board of 
Directors. The following further describes the Group’s objectives, policies and processes for managing those 
risks and the methods used to measure them. Further quantitative information in respect of these risks is 
presented throughout these financial statements.

(a) Market risk
(i) Price risk

The Group is exposed to equity securities price risk as a result of the equity and debt investments, and 
investments in Limited Partnerships held by the Group and categorised as at fair value through profit or loss.

The Group mitigates this risk by having established investment appraisal processes and asset monitoring 
procedures which are subject to overall review by the Board. The Group has also established corporate finance 
and communications teams dedicated to supporting portfolio companies with fundraising activities and 
investor relations.

The Group holds investments which are publicly traded on AIM (20 companies) and investments which are not 
traded on an active market.

The net portfolio gains in 2017 of £94.2m represents a 15.3% change against the opening balance (2016: net 
increase of £6.5m, 1.4% change) and a similar increase or decrease in the prices of quoted and unquoted 
investments is considered to be reasonably possible. The table below summarises the impact of a 1% increase/
decrease in the price of both quoted and unquoted investments on the Group’s post-tax profit for the year and 
on equity.

2017

Quoted
£m

Unquoted
£m

2.3

8.7

2016

Total
£m

11.0

Quoted
£m

Unquoted
£m

1.6

4.6

Total
£m

6.2

Equity investments and investments 
in limited partnerships

(ii) Interest rate risk

The EIB debt facility bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.98% with an additional variable spread equal to the 
six month GBP Libor rate as at the first date of each six-month interest period. The first £15.0m tranche was 
disbursed on 17 December 2015 and the average floating interest rate (including the fixed element) for 2016 
was 2.66% (2015: 2.48%)

 The Group also holds an additional debt facility totalling £104.0m with the EIB as a consequence of the 
combination with Touchstone Innovations during the year. The first tranche of their EIB loan is linked to 
quarterly LIBOR rate. The loan was disbursed on 30 July 2013 and the floating interest rate including LIBOR 
was 3.3%. There are no hedging instruments in place to cover against interest rate fluctuation as exposure 
is deemed insignificant. The second tranche of the Touchstone EIB loan is based on a fixed interest rate of 
4.235%. Touchstone entered a second loan agreement for £50.0m with a fixed interest rate of 3.026%.

The other primary impact of interest rate risk to the Group is the impact on the income and operating cash 
flows as a result of the interest-bearing deposits and cash and cash equivalents held by the Group.

(iii) Concentrations of risk

The Group is exposed to concentration risk via the significant majority of the portfolio being UK based 
companies and thus subject to the performance of the UK economy. The Group is increasing its operations in 
the US and the determination of the associated concentrations is determined by the number of investment 
opportunities that management believe represent a good investment.

The Group mitigates this risk, in co-ordination with liquidity risk, by managing its proportion of fixed to floating 
rate financial assets. The table overleaf summarises the interest rate profile of the Group.

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20172. Financial Risk Management continued

2017

2016

Fixed 
rate 
£m

Floating 
rate 
£m

Interest 
free 
£m

Total 
£m

Fixed 
rate 
£m

Floating 
rate 
£m

Interest 
free 
£m

Total 
£m

—

—

—

95.0

7.5

—

—

— 1,085.4

1,085.4

—

—

—

223.8

—

—

45.2

45.2

11.0

—

—

1.9

6.4

11.0

95.0

231.3

1.9

6.4

—

0.2

—

—

—

—

—

—

30.0

82.3

—

—

—

—

594.9

594.9

18.9

4.2

—

—

2.3

0.3

19.1

4.2

—

112.3

2.3

0.3

102.5

223.8

1,149.9

1,476.2

30.2

82.3

620.6

733.1

Financial assets

Equity investments

Debt investments

Limited and limited liability 
partnership interests

Deposits

Cash and cash equivalents

Trade receivables

Other receivables

Financial liabilities

Trade payables

Other accruals and deferred 
income

—

—

—

—

(2.0)

(2.0)

(17.7)

(17.7)

EIB debt facility

(65.0)

(39.0)

— (104.0)

Carried interest plan liability

Provisions for liabilities and 
charges

Loans from limited partners 
of consolidated funds

—

—

—

—

—

—

(8.8)

(6.4)

(8.8)

(6.4)

(13.1)

(13.1)

(65.0)

(39.0)

(48.0)

(152.0)

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

(14.9)

—

—

—

(0.7)

(0.7)

(1.4)

—

—

—

(1.4)

(14.9)

—

—

(9.8)

(9.8)

(14.9)

(11.9)

(26.8)

At 31 December 2017, if interest rates had been 1% higher/lower, post-tax profit for the year, and other 
components of equity, would have been £1.8m (2016: £0.8m) higher/lower as a result of higher interest 
received on floating rate cash deposits.

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CONTINUED

2. Financial Risk Management continued

(b) Liquidity risk
The Group seeks to manage liquidity risk, to ensure sufficient liquidity is available to meet foreseeable needs 
and to invest cash assets safely and profitably. The Group’s Treasury Management Policy asserts that at any 
one point in time no more than 60% of the Group’s cash and cash equivalents will be placed in fixed-term 
deposits with a holding period greater than three months. Accordingly, the Group only invests working capital 
in short-term instruments issued by reputable counterparties. The Group continually monitors rolling cash flow 
forecasts to ensure sufficient cash is available for anticipated cash requirements.

(c) Credit risk
The Group’s credit risk is primarily attributable to its deposits, cash and cash equivalents, debt investments 
and trade receivables. The Group seeks to mitigate its credit risk on cash and cash equivalents by making 
short-term deposits with counterparties, or by investing in treasury funds with an “AA” credit rating or above 
managed by institutions. Short-term deposit counterparties are required to have most recently reported total 
assets in excess of £5bn and, where applicable, a prime short-term credit rating at the time of investment 
(ratings are generally determined by Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s). Moody’s prime credit ratings of “P1”, “P2” 
and “P3” indicate respectively that the rating agency considers the counterparty to have a “superior”, “strong” 
or “acceptable” ability to repay short-term debt obligations (generally defined as having an original maturity 
not exceeding 13 months). An analysis of the Group’s deposits and cash and cash equivalents balance analysed 
by credit rating as at the reporting date is shown in the table opposite. All other financial assets are unrated. 

Credit rating

P1

P2

Total deposits and cash and cash equivalents

2017
 £m

117.9

208.4

326.3

2016
 £m

76.7

35.6

112.3

The Group has no significant concentration of credit risk, with exposure spread over a large number of 
counterparties and customers. The Group has detailed policies and strategies which seek to minimise these 
associated risks including defining maximum counterparty exposure limits for term deposits based on their 
perceived financial strength at the commencement of the deposit. The maximum single counterparty limit for 
deposits at 31 December 2017 was £50m (2016: £50m). 

The Group’s exposure to credit risk on debt investments is managed in a similar way to equity price risk, as 
described earlier, through the Group’s investment appraisal processes and asset monitoring procedures which 
are subject to overall review by the Board.

The maximum exposure to credit risk for debt investments, receivables and other financial assets is 
represented by their carrying amount.

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20173. Significant Accounting Estimates and Judgements
The directors make judgements and estimates concerning the future. Estimates and judgements are 
continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, such as expectations of future 
events, and are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these 
estimates. The estimates and assumptions which have the most significant effects on the carrying amounts of 
the assets and liabilities in the financial statements are discussed below.

(i) Valuation of unquoted equity investments
The estimates required in order to determine the appropriate valuation methodology of unquoted equity 
investments have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and 
liabilities. These estimates include making assessments of the future earnings potential of portfolio companies, 
appropriate earnings multiples to apply, and marketability and other risk discounts as further described in note 2.

(ii) Valuation of unquoted equity investments acquired via combination with  
Touchstone Innovations
As described in (i) above, the valuation of unquoted equity investments requires management to make 
estimates to determine an appropriate valuation methodology of unquoted equity investments. Additionally, 
the directors have used their judgement in determining whether valuation changes affect the fair value at the 
date of acquisition or in the period post acquisition. Again, these estimates are further described in note 2.

(iii) Impairment of goodwill
Goodwill is tested for impairment annually or whenever there is an indication that the carrying amount may 
not be recoverable based on management’s judgements regarding the future prospects of the business, 
estimates of future cash flows and discount rates. When assessing the appropriateness of the carrying value 
of goodwill, the recoverable amount is determined using a number of value-in-use and fair-value-less-costs-
to-sell calculations. The use of these methods requires the estimation of future cash flows, and the selection of 
a suitable discount rate, in order to calculate the present value of these cash flows as well as the selection of 
applicable and reasonable multiples.

For the purpose of testing goodwill for impairment, the Group considers each of its cash-generating units 
separately to which goodwill is allocated. Any impairment losses in respect of goodwill will not be reversed.

Discussion of sensitivity analyses is included in the relevant note for each of the above estimates and 
judgements.

4. Revenue from Services
All revenue from services is derived from either the provision of advisory and venture capital fund 
management services or from licensing activities, royalty revenues and patent cost recoveries.

5. Operating Segments
For both the year ended 31 December 2017 and the year ended 31 December 2016, the Group’s revenue and 
profit/loss before taxation were derived almost entirely from its principal activities within the UK. Though 
the Group has initiated operations in the US and Australasia, the associated revenues and costs are currently 
immaterial and accordingly, no additional geographical disclosures are given. For management reporting 
purposes, the Group is currently organised into three operating segments: (i) the commercialisation of 
intellectual property via the formation of long-term partner relationships with universities; (ii) the management 
of venture funds focusing on early-stage UK technology companies; and (iii) the in-licensing of drugable 
intellectual property from research intensive institutions which due to a share reorganisation in December 
2017 was deconsolidated as a Group company and will be recognised on the statement of financial position as 
part of the IP Group investment portfolio going forward. These activities are described in further detail in the 
Strategic report on pages 7 to 59.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

5. Operating Segments continued

Year ended 31 December 2017

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Portfolio return and revenue

Change in fair value of equity and debt investments 

Gain on disposal of equity investments

Gain on deconsolidation of subsidiary

Change in fair value of limited and limited liability 
partnership interests

Other portfolio income

Licensing income

Revenue from services and other income

Revenue from fund management services

Carried interest plan charge

Amortisation of intangible assets

IFRS3 charge in respect of acquisition of subsidiary

Acquisition and restructuring costs

Administrative expenses

Operating profit

Finance income 

Finance costs 

Profit before taxation

Taxation

Profit for the year

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

Assets

Liabilities

Net assets

Other segment items

Capital expenditure

Depreciation

University 
partnership 
business 
£m

Venture 
capital fund 
management 
£m

In-licensing 
activity 
£m

Consolidated 
£m

49.0

0.1

—

(0.2)

— 

1.1

—

(1.3)

(3.9)

(4.4)

(9.1)

(25.9)

5.4

1.0

(0.7)

5.7

—

5.7

1,643.4

(147.8)

1,495.6

1.6

(0.9)

—

—

—

—

—

0.9

4.1

—

—

—

—

(2.3)

2.7

—

—

2.7

—

2.7

17.1

(4.2)

12.9

—

—

—

—

45.1

—

3.4

—

—

—

—

—

—

(3.5)

45.0

—

—

45.0

—

45.0

—

— 

—

—

—

49.0

0.1

45.1

(0.2)

3.4

2.0

4.1

(1.3)

(3.9)

(4.4)

(9.1)

(31.7)

53.1

1.0

(0.7)

53.4

—

53.4

1,660.5

(152.0)

1,508.5

1.6

(0.9)

134

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20175. Operating Segments continued

Year ended 31 December 2016

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Portfolio return and revenue

Change in fair value of equity and debt investments 

Loss on disposal of equity investments

Change in fair value of limited and limited liability 
partnership interests

Change in fair value of contingent value right

Other portfolio income

Licensing income

Revenue from services and other income

Revenue from fund management services

Amortisation of intangible assets

Acquisition costs

Administrative expenses

Operating loss

Finance income 

Loss before taxation

Taxation

Loss for the year

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

Assets

Liabilities

Net assets

Other segment items

Capital expenditure

Depreciation

University 
partnership 
business 
£m

Venture 
capital fund 
management 
£m

In-licensing 
activity 
£m

Consolidated 
£m

7.0

(0.5)

(0.3)

(1.4)

0.2

0.8

—

(5.6)

(0.4)

(14.9)

(15.1)

0.6

(14.5)

—

(14.5)

778.4

(26.5)

751.9

—

(0.1)

—

—

—

—

—

0.9

0.9

—

—

(0.7)

1.1

—

1.1

—

1.1

10.9

(0.1)

10.8

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

(1.4) 

(1.4)

—

(1.4)

—

(1.4)

6.2

(0.2)

6.0

—

—

7.0

(0.5)

(0.3)

(1.4)

0.2

1.7

0.9

(5.6)

(0.4)

(17.0)

(15.4)

0.6

(14.8)

—

(14.8)

795.5

(26.8)

768.7

—

(0.1)

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

6. Auditor’s Remuneration
Details of the auditor’s remuneration are set out below:

Fees payable to the Company’s auditor for the audit of the Company’s annual 
accounts 

Fees payable to the Company’s auditor for the audit of the Company’s interim 
accounts

The audit of the Company’s subsidiaries, pursuant to legislation

Total fees for audit services

Audit-related assurance services 

Total assurance services

Tax compliance services 

Taxation advisory services

All other services 

Total non-assurance services

7. Operating Profit
Operating profit has been arrived at after (charging) or crediting:

Amortisation of intangible assets

Depreciation of tangible assets

Employee costs (see note 9)

Operating leases (see note 21)

Gain on deconsolidation of subsidiary

Gain/(loss) on disposal of equity investments

8. Acquisition and Restructuring Costs
Acquisition and restructuring costs in the year comprised:

Financial and corporate broking advice

Legal advice

Other professional advice

Other costs

2017
 £’000s

2016
 £’000s

118

50

100

268

—

268

—

—

23

23

291

2017
 £m

(3.9)

(0.9)

(17.0)

(1.1)

45.1

0.1

2017
 £m

5.0

1.0

0.2

2.9

9.1

74

—

87

161

21

182

—

—

18

18

200

2016
 £m

(5.6)

(0.1)

(9.5)

(0.5)

—

(0.5)

2016
 £m

—

0.3

0.1

—

0.4

Acquisition and restructuring costs are largely comprised of professional fees incurred for the acquisition 
of Touchstone Innovations which was affected by means of a takeover under the City Code. Other costs 
include a provision for employee redundancies, an onerous lease provision for London office space surplus to 
requirements and accelerated depreciation on the fixed assets within the Touchstone office. Costs incurred in 
the prior year were wholly incurred in respect of the acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors.

136

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 20179. Employee Costs

Employee costs (including executive directors) comprise:

Salaries

Defined contribution pension cost

Share-based payment charge (see note 22)

Other bonuses accrued in the year

Social security

2017
 £m

10.2

0.5

2.4

2.5

1.4

17.0

2016
 £m

7.0

0.4

1.5

—

0.6

9.5

The average monthly number of persons (including executive directors) employed by the Group during the 
year was 115, all of whom were involved in management and administration activities (2016: 70). Details of the 
Directors’ remuneration can be found in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 80 to 99.

10. Taxation

Current tax

Deferred tax

2017
 £m

—

—

2016
 £m

—

—

The Group primarily seeks to generate capital gains from its holdings in spin-out companies over the longer-
term but has historically made annual net operating losses from its operations from a UK tax perspective. 
Capital gains achieved by the Group would ordinarily be taxed upon realisation of such holdings. The Directors 
continue to believe that the Group qualifies for the Substantial Shareholdings Exemption (“SSE”). The Directors 
consider that the SSE regime has been simplified and enhanced during the period, with a number of changes 
being enacted in the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 that are effective for disposals on or after 1 April 2017. From the 
Group’s perspective the key changes were to remove the requirement for the investing entity (in this case, 
IP Group) to be a sole trading entity or member of a trading group and extending the minimum 10% holding 
period to any 12-month period in the six years prior to disposal. The Group welcomed these changes and 
the directors anticipate that they will have a favourable impact on the Group, giving greater certainty over 
the exemption of qualifying gains under SSE, and increasing the Group’s flexibility over the timing of future 
portfolio company disposals.

The changes in the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 also included a restriction on companies’ use of brought forward 
losses. As a result, the amount of profit that can be mitigated by brought forward losses will be restricted to 
50% of the amount of profits in excess of £5m. The Directors do not currently consider that these proposed 
changes will result in the recognition of a deferred tax liability in respect of any unrealised gains that do not 
qualify for SSE but note that such liabilities may arise in the future.

Assets held in Luxembourg, which were acquired via the combination with Touchstone in the year, are also 
subject to capital gains and ordinarily the Group would be taxed on their realisation. The participation exemption, 
similar to the UK SSE scheme described above, is available for certain share disposals. Dividends and gains 
arising to Imperial Innovations Sárl through its interest in Touchstone Innovations Businesses LLP should be 
exempt from tax under Luxembourg law provided the conditions for the participation exemption are met for 
each investment or each investment can be attributed to a UK permanent establishment. Tax residence of 
Imperial Innovations Sárl will be maintained in Luxembourg and no UK tax should arise on the applicable gains.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

10. Taxation continued
The amount for the year can be reconciled to the profit per the statement of comprehensive income as follows:

Profit before tax

Tax at the UK corporation tax rate of 20.0% (2015: 20.3%)

Expenses not deductible for tax purposes

Non taxable income on deconsolidation of Istesso group

Fair value movement on investments qualifying for SSE

Movement on share-based payments

Unrecognised other temporary differences

Movement in tax losses arising not recognised

Total tax charge

2017
 £m

53.4

10.3

1.6

(8.7)

(9.4)

0.3

—

5.9

—

2016
 £m

(14.8)

(3.0)

0.9

—

(1.3)

(0.1)

—

3.3

—

At 31 December 2017, deductible temporary differences and unused tax losses, for which no deferred tax asset 
has been recognised, totalled £246.9m (2016: £141.7m). An analysis is shown below:

Share-based payment costs and other temporary 
differences

Unused tax losses

2017

2016

Amount 
£m

Deferred tax 
£m

Amount 
£m

Deferred tax 
£m

15.1

231.8

246.9

2.6

39.4

42.0

14.1

127.6

141.7

2.4

21.7

24.1

At 31 December 2017, deductible temporary differences and unused tax losses, for which a deferred tax asset/
(liability) has been recognised, totalled £nil (2016: £nil). An analysis is shown below:

Temporary timing differences

Unused tax losses

2017

2016

Amount 
£m

Deferred tax 
£m

Amount 
£m

Deferred tax 
£m

7.1

(7.1)

—

1.2

(1.2)

—

2.6

(2.6)

—

4.4

(0.4) 

—

138

25829-04      22 May 2018 2:44 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201711. Earnings per Share

Earnings

Earnings for the purposes of basic and dilutive earnings per share

Number of shares

2017
 £m

49.7

2016
 £m

(13.5)

2017
 Number of 
shares

2016
Number of 
shares

Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic earnings 
per share

704,227,751

565,056,171

Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares:

Options or contingently issuable shares 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of diluted  
earnings per share

657,673

—

704,885,424

565,056,171

Potentially dilutive ordinary shares include contingently issuable shares arising under the Group’s LTIP 
arrangements, and options issued as part of the Group’s Sharesave schemes and Deferred Bonus Share Plan 
(for annual bonuses deferred under the terms of the Group’s annual incentive scheme).

12. Goodwill

At 1 January 2017

Recognised on acquisition of subsidiary undertakings (see note 27)

At 31 December 2017

 £m

57.1

115.0

172.1

Goodwill arising on business combinations is reviewed for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently 
if there are indications that goodwill may be impaired. Recoverable amounts for CGUs are based on the higher 
of value in use and fair value less costs of disposal. Value in use in calculated from cashflow projections for 
the CGUs to which the goodwill has been allocated. The goodwill allocated to each CGU is summarised in the 
table below. 

University partnership CGU

Fund management CGU

Parkwalk Advisors CGU

2017
 £m

169.6

2.1

0.4

172.1

2016
 £m

55.0

2.1

—

57.1

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

12. Goodwill continued
Impairment review of the university partnership CGU
The key assumptions of the DCF models used to assess the value in use are shown below.

For the purposes of impairment testing, the university partnership CGU comprises those elements connected 
with the Group’s university partnership business. The Directors consider that for each of the key variables 
which would be relevant in determining a recoverable value for the university partnership CGU, there is a range 
of reasonably possible alternative values. The key variable ranges are set out below:

Number of spin-out companies per year 

Annual investment rate

Rate of return achieved

Proportion of IPO exits

Proportion of disposal exits

IPO & Disposal valuations

Long term growth rate

Discount rate

2017

13–15

2016

10–15

£50m–£60m £40m–£75m

15%–20%

25%–30%

25%–28%

15%–22%

25%–35%

25%–32%

£30m–£35m £25m–£35m

1.5%–1.7%

10%–15%

1.9%

9%–11%

When determining the key variables, management has, where possible and appropriate, used historical 
performance data as a basis. In instances where the forecasted volumes and scale of activity do not align 
with the Group’s prior performance, management applies its judgement in determining these variables. Two 
different value-in-use models were assessed in order to evaluate the recoverable value of the CGU, neither of 
which resulted in an impairment being required.

Impairment review of venture capital fund management CGU
The key assumptions of the DCF model used to assess the value in use are shown below:

Discount rate

Number of funds under management

Management fee

Cost inflation

Long term growth rate

2017
 £m

2016
 £m

9%–11%

9%–11%

3

4

2%–3.25%

2%–3.25%

2.5%

1.9%

1.5%

—

The value-in-use models were assessed in order to evaluate the recoverable value of the CGU does not indicate 
an impairment being required.

140

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201713. Intangible Assets

Cost

At 1 January 2017

Additions acquired through business combinations

At 31 December 2017

Accumulated amortisation

At 1 January 2017

Charge for the year

At 31 December 2016

Net book value

At 31 December 2017

At 31 December 2016

 £m

21.6

9.0

30.6

16.5

3.9

20.4

10.2

5.1

The intangible assets represent contracts with customers and other contractual arrangements with UK 
universities acquired through acquisition of subsidiaries. The contractual arrangements have fixed terms and, 
consequently, the intangible assets have a finite life which align with the remaining terms which, at the end of the 
period, range from 2 months to 29 months. The individual contractual arrangements are amortised in a straight 
line over the remainder of their terms with the expense being presented directly on the primary statements.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

14. Categorisation of Financial Instruments

Financial assets

At 31 December 2017
Equity investments

Debt investments

Other financial assets

Limited and limited liability partnership interests 

Trade and other receivables

Deposits

Cash and cash equivalents

Total
At 31 December 2016

Equity investments

Debt investments

Other financial assets

Limited and limited liability partnership interests

Trade and other receivables

Deposits

Cash and cash equivalents

Total

At fair value through  
profit or loss

Held for 
trading 
£m

Designated 
upon initial 
recognition 
£m

Loans and 
receivables 
£m

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1,085.4

45.2

—

11.0

—

—

—

1,141.6

594.9

19.1

—

4.2

—

—

—

618.2

—

—

—

—

8.3

95.0

231.3

334.6

—

—

—

—

2.6

—

112.3

114.9

Total 
£m

1,085.4

45.2

—

11.0

8.3

95.0

231.3

1,476.2

594.9

19.1

—

4.2

2.6

—

112.3

733.1

All financial liabilities are categorised as other financial liabilities and recognised at amortised cost.

The Group does not consider that any change in fair value of financial assets in the year is attributable to credit 
risk (2016: £nil).

All net fair value gains in the year are attributable to financial assets designated at fair value through profit or 
loss on initial recognition (2016: all net fair value gains attributable to financial assets designated at fair value 
through profit or loss on initial recognition).

All interest income is attributable to financial assets not classified as fair value through profit and loss.

142

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201715. Net Investment Portfolio

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 3a

Level 3b

Equity 
investments 
in quoted 
spin-out 
companies 
£m

Equity 
investments 
in unquoted 
spin-out 
companies 
£m

Unquoted 
debt 
investments 
in spin-out 
companies 
£m

Equity 
investments 
in unquoted 
spin-out 
companies 
£m

Unquoted 
debt 
investments 
in spin-out 
companies 
£m

Equity 
investments 
in unquoted 
spin-out 
companies 
£m

Total 
£m

At 1 January 2017

Investments during 
the year

Acquired with 
Touchstone 
Innovations plc

Transaction-based 
reclassifications 
during the year

Other transfers 
between hierarchy 
levels during the year

Disposals

Adjustments for 
deconsolidation of 
subsidiaries

Fees settled via 
equity

Change in fair value in 
the year(i)

At 31 December 2017

At 1 January 2016

Investments during 
the year

Transaction-based 
reclassifications 
during the year

Other transfers 
between hierarchy 
levels during the year

Disposals

Fees settled via 
equity

Change in fair value in 
the year(i)

At 31 December 2016

161.1

15.2

35.3

—

13.4

1.2

—

—

(1.1)

225.1

201.3

10.9

—

—

(15.0)

—

(36.1)

161.1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

368.0

36.3

19.1

11.5

65.8

614.0

8.2

71.2

131.6

19.9

165.4

352.2

5.6

(12.5)

6.9

(266.7)

—

—

0.5

26.9

302.2

308.6 

—

(0.8)

8.4

—

(0.4)

45.2

9.1 

—

—

253.3

(7.8)

(7.4)

42.7

—

23.6

558.1

51.1

0.5

49.0

1,130.6

33.2 

552.2 

50.9 

6.2 

1.7

69.7 

0.7 

(0.7)

— 

 — 

(39.8)

(0.2)

0.4

47.4 

368.0 

6.7 

(0.1)

—

(2.1)

19.1 

33.1 

— 

 —

(15.3)

—

0.4

(2.2)

65.8 

7.0 

614.0 

i 

The change in fair value in the year includes a loss of £1.1m (2016: gain of £0.7m) in exchange differences on translating foreign currency 
investments.

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

15. Net Investment Portfolio continued
In order to align the Group’s reporting with that of Touchstone Innovations, we have classified our investments 
which were previously level 2 as level 3a, and we have re-presented the 2016 investment level data accordingly.

The Group’s policy is to classify equity investments in unquoted spin-out companies as Level 3a where prices 
have been determined from recent investments in the last twelve months. The impact of changing the qualifying 
criteria for Level 3a to be determined from recent investments in the last six months would mean 23.0% (2016: 
4.4%) of the equity investments in unquoted spin-out companies would be reclassified to Level 3b.

Fair values of unquoted spin-out companies classified as Level 3b in the fair value hierarchy have been 
determined, in part or in full, by valuation techniques that are not supported by observable market prices or 
rates. This includes where prices have been determined from the most recent market transaction, but that 
transaction occurred more than twelve months prior to the balance sheet date, and a variety of other valuation 
techniques. Investments in 190 (2016: 54) companies have been classified as Level 3b. If the fair value of all 
Level 3b investments were to decrease by 10%, the net assets figure would decrease by £28.4m (2016: £6.6m), 
with a corresponding increase if the unobservable inputs were to increase by 10%. 

If the assumptions used in the valuation techniques for the Group’s holding in each company are varied by 
using a range of possible alternatives, there is no material difference to the carrying value of the respective 
spin-out company. The effect on the consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the period is also 
not expected to be material.

Due to the significant increase in the size of the unquoted investment portfolio during the year, which resulted 
from the acquisition of Touchtone Innovations, the Group have reconsidered the observability of the inputs 
in all unquoted valuations within the Group and aligned the classification of the level 3 investments with that 
previously reported by Touchstone Innovations. The prior year presentation has been reclassified accordingly.

For assets and liabilities that are recognised at fair value on a recurring basis, the Group determines whether 
transfers have occurred between levels in the hierarchy by re-assessing categorisation (based on the lowest 
level input that is significant to the fair value measurement as a whole) at the end of each reporting period. 
Transfers between tiers are then made as if the transfer took place on the first day of the period in question, 
except in the cases of transfers between tiers based on an initial public offering (“IPO”) of an investment 
wherein the changes in value prior to the IPO are calculated and reported in tier 3a, and those changes post 
are attributed to tier 1.

Transfers between Level 3a and Level 1 occur when a previously unquoted investment undertakes an initial 
public offering, resulting in its equity becoming quoted on an active market. In the current period, transfers of 
this nature amounted to £13.4m (2016: £nil).

Transfers between Level 1 and Level 3a would occur when a quoted investment’s market becomes inactive, 
or the portfolio company elects to delist. There have been no such instances in the current period (2016: one 
instance, £nil value).

Transfers between Level 3b and Level 3a occur when an investment which previously had a most recent 
investment of over twelve months ago undertakes an investment, resulting in an observable market rate. In the 
current period, transfers of this nature amounted to £26.7m (2016: £7.3m).

Transfers between Level 3a and Level 3b occur when an investment’s recent investment becomes more than 
twelve months old, with the price being deemed unobservable. In the current period, transfers of this nature 
amounted to £280.0m (2016: £45.3m).

144

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201715. Net Investment Portfolio continued

Change in fair value in the year

Fair value gains

Fair value losses

2017
 £m

99.3

(50.3)

49.0

2016
 £m

57.3

(50.3)

7.0

The Company’s interests in subsidiary undertakings are listed in note 2 to the Company’s financial statements.

16. Trade and Other Receivables

Trade debtors

Prepayments

Other receivables

2017
 £m

1.9

1.4

5.0

8.3

2016
 £m

2.3

0.3

—

2.6

The Directors consider the carrying amount of trade and other receivables to approximate their fair value. All 
receivables are interest free, repayable on demand and unsecured. 

17. Contingent Value Rights
As a result of the disposal of Proximagen Group plc in August 2012, the Group received contingent 
consideration, in the form of contingent value rights (“CVRs”), based upon future net revenues of two 
associated drug programmes. In line with the Group’s policies, these have previously been recognised as 
financial assets at fair value through profit and loss. The Group considers this asset to be Level 3 in the fair 
value hierarchy throughout the current and previous financial years. This asset is fair valued at £nil (2016: £nil) 
and the directors do not expect any value to be realised in the future.

18. Trade and Other Payables

Current liabilities

Trade payables

Social security expenses

Deferred consideration payable

Redundancy and restructuring cost accrual

Bonus accrual

Other accruals and deferred income 

2017
 £m

2.0

0.7

4.3

2.4

2.8

7.5

19.7

2016
 £m

0.7

0.3

—

—

—

1.1

2.1

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Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

19. Borrowings

Non-current liabilities

EIB debt facility

Loans drawn down from the Limited Partners of consolidated funds

Current liabilities

EIB debt facility

2017
 £m

97.7

13.1

110.8

2017
 £m

6.3

6.3

2016
 £m

14.9

9.8

24.7

2016
 £m

—

—

Loans drawn down from the Limited Partners of consolidated funds
The loans from Limited Partners of consolidated funds are interest free and repayable only upon the applicable 
funds generating sufficient returns to repay the Limited Partners. Management anticipates that the funds will 
generate the required returns and consequently recognises the full associated liabilities.

EIB debt facility
On 8 July 2015 the Group secured a £30m, 8-year debt facility from the European Investment Bank. The facility 
is to be disbursed in two tranches. The Group will use the proceeds to continue to fund UK university spin-out 
companies as they develop and mature. 

The first tranche of £15.0m was drawn down on 17 December 2015. There were £0.1m of initial transaction 
costs incurred in the arrangement of the facility. This balance was set against the loan amount and is to be 
subsequently amortised over the term of the loan. The associated charge to the statement of comprehensive 
income for 2017 was £nil (2016: nil). The loan is based on a fixed rate of 1.98% with an additional variable 
spread equal to the six month GBP Libor rate as at the first date of each six-month interest period. The capital 
is repayable in ten equal payments over a five-year period with the first payment due on 7 January 2019.

The second tranche of £15.0m was drawn down on 7 December 2017. The capital is repayable in ten equal 
payments over a five-year period with the first payment due on 7 January 2019. The loan is based on a fixed 
interest rate of 3.016% and is repayable over a ten year period.

The Group also holds an additional debt facility with the EIB as a consequence of the combination with 
Touchstone Innovations during the year. The first tranche of a £30.0m debt facility was drawn down on 30 July 
2013. Transaction costs of £0.2m were incurred to obtain the loan and were set against the loan amount. These 
costs are subsequently amortised over the life time of the loan. The loan is based on a floating interest rate 
related to LIBOR and is repayable in 10 equal annual instalments over a twelve year period.

The second tranche was drawn down on 30 June 2015. Transaction costs of £0.2m were incurred to obtain the 
loan and were set against the loan amount. These costs are subsequently amortised over the life time of the 
loan. The loan is based on a fixed interest rate of 4.235% and is repayable over a ten year period.

On 13 July 2015, Touchstone entered a second loan agreement of £50.0m available to draw down in up to 
four tranches with a minimum tranche value of £10.0m. There is a non-utilisation fee calculated on the daily 
undrawn, uncancelled balance of the loan from the date falling six months after the date of the agreement  
at a rate of 0.10% per annum. This facility was fully drawn down in February 2017 and is repayable over an  
eight-year period.

The Touchstone loans contain a debt covenant requiring that the ratio of the total fair value of investments 
plus cash and qualifying liquidity to debt should a no time fall below 4:1. The loan also stipulates that on any 
date, the aggregate of all amounts scheduled for payment to the EIB in the following six months should be 
kept in a separate bank account. 

146

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201719. Borrowings continued
The IP Group loans contain covenants requiring that the ratio between the value of the portfolio along with 
the value of the Group’s cash net of any outstanding liabilities, and the outstanding debt facility does not fall 
below 6:1. The Group must maintain that the amount of unencumbered funds freely available to the Group is 
not less than £15.0m. The Group is also required to maintain a separate bank account which must at any date 
maintain a minimum balance equal to that of all payments due to the EIB in the forthcoming six months.

20. Share Capital

Issued and fully paid:

Ordinary Shares of 2p each

At 1 January

Issued under share placings

Issued as consideration in acquisitions

Issued under employee share plans

2017

2016

Number

£m

Number

565,221,967

131,913,567

359,304,235

943,832

11.3 564,648,168

2.6

7.2

—

—

—

573,799

At 31 December

 1,057,383,601

21.1

565,221,967

£m

11.3

—

—

—

11.3

The Company has one class of ordinary shares with a par value of 2p (“Ordinary Shares”) which carry equal 
voting rights, equal rights to income and distributions of assets on liquidation, or otherwise, and no right to 
fixed income.

In June 2017, the Group issued 131,357,140 new Ordinary Shares as part of a fund raising which raised £184.7m 
before expenses at a price of £1.40 per share. Later in August, an additional subscription for 556,427 Ordinary 
Shares was made at the same terms as the previous share placing bring total funds raised to £181.0m net  
of expenses.

In October 2017, the Group’s offer to acquire 100% of the share capital of Touchstone Innovations plc became 
unconditional in all respects and 357,518,520 new Ordinary Shares were issued to the existing Touchstone 
shareholders in exchange for shares in IP Group plc. 

Also in October 2017, the Group issued 1,785,715 new Ordinary Shares as consideration to the sellers of 
Parkwalk Advisors (see Note 27).

In June and November 2017, the Group issued 436,689 new Ordinary Shares in order to settle the exercise of 
options that had been issued under the Group’s Deferred Bonus Share Plan (“DBSP”, see Note 22). 

Finally, in November 2017, the Group issued 507,143 new Ordinary Shares in exchange for Touchstone 
Innovations shares that were issued under the rules of the Imperial Innovations 2016 Long Term Incentive 
Plan (“LTIP”, see Note 22). Prior to the completion of the all-share acquisition by IP Group, the Remuneration 
Committee of Touchstone Innovations plc determined that one third of the shares comprised in the 2016 
awards granted over shares in Touchstone under the 2016 LTIP would become immediately exercisable upon 
the IP Group offer becoming wholly unconditional, notwithstanding that the performance conditions had not 
been met at that time. 

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CONTINUED

21. Operating Lease Arrangements

Payments under operating leases recognised in the statement of comprehensive 
income for the year

2017
 £m

1.1

2016
 £m

0.5

At the reporting date, the Group had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under 
non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

Within one year

In the second to fifth years inclusive

2017
 £m

1.7

4.6

6.3

2016
 £m

0.6

3.1

3.7

Operating lease payments represent rentals by the Group for its office properties. Leases are negotiated for an 
average term of five years and rentals are fixed for an average of one year.

22. Share-Based Payments
In 2017, the Group continued to incentivise employees through its LTIP and AIS. Both are described in more 
detail in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 80 to 99.

Deferred Bonus Share Plan (“DBSP”)
Awards made to employees under the Group’s AIS above a certain threshold include 50% deferred into IP 
Group equity through the grant of nil-cost options under the Group’s DBSP. The number of nil-cost options 
granted under the Group’s DBSP is determined by the share price at vesting date. The DBSP options are 
subject to further time-based vesting over two years (typically 50% after year one and 50% after year two). 

An analysis of movements in the DBSP options outstanding is as follows:

At 1 January

AIS deferral shares award during the year 

Exercised during the year 

Lapsed during the year

At 31 December

Exercisable at 31 December

Number of 
options 
2017

837,995

—

(436,689)

(6,812)

394,494

—

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2017

Number of 
options 
2016

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2016

—

—

—

—

—

—

187,869

781,148

(101,622)

(29,400)

837,995

86,247

—

—

—

—

—

The options outstanding at 31 December 2017 had an exercise price in the range of £nil (2016: £nil) and a 
weighted-average remaining contractual life of 0.3 years (2016: 0.8 years).

The weighted average share price at the date of exercise for share options exercised in 2017 was 139.17p  
(2016: £178.90p).

As the 2017 AIS financial performance targets were met and as the number of DBSP options to be granted in 
order to defer such elements of the AIS payments as are required under our remuneration policy are based 
on a percentage of employees’ salary, the share-based payments line includes the associated share-based 
payments expense incurred in 2017.

148

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201722. Share-Based Payments continued
Long-Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) 
Awards under the LTIP take the form of conditional awards of ordinary shares of 2p each in the Group which 
vest over the prescribed performance period to the extent that performance conditions have been met. 
The Remuneration Committee imposes objective conditions on the vesting of awards and these take into 
consideration the guidance of the Group’s institutional investors from time to time. Further information on the 
Group’s LTIP is set out in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 80 to 99.

The 2017 LTIP awards were made on 29 August 2017. The awards will ordinarily vest on 31 March 2020, to 
the extent that the performance conditions have been met. The awards are based on the performance of the 
Group’s Hard NAV and Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”). Both performance measures are combined into a 
matrix format to most appropriately measure performance relative to the business, as shown in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report within the Group’s 2017 Annual Report and Accounts. The total award is subject to an 
underpin based on the relative performance of the Group’s TSR to that of the FTSE 250 index, which can 
reduce the awards by up to 50%. The 2017 LTIP matrix is designed such that up to 100% of the award (prior 
to the application of the underpin) will vest in full in the event of both Hard NAV increasing by 15% per year 
on a cumulative basis, from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019, and TSR increasing by 15% per year on a 
cumulative basis from the date of award to 31 March 2020, using an industry-standard average price period at 
the beginning and end of the performance period. Further, the matrix is designed such that 30% of the award 
shall vest (again prior to the application of the underpin) if the cumulative increase is 8% per annum for both 
measures over their respective performance periods (“threshold performance”). A straight-line sliding scale is 
applied for performance between the distinct points on the matrix of vesting targets.

The 2016 LTIP awards were made on 16 May 2016. The awards will ordinarily vest on 31 March 2019, to the 
extent that the performance conditions have been met. The awards are based on the performance of the 
Group’s Hard NAV and Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”). Both performance measures are combined into a 
matrix format to most appropriately measure performance relative to the business, as shown in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report within the Group’s 2017 Annual Report and Accounts. The total award is subject to an 
underpin based on the relative performance of the Group’s TSR to that of the FTSE 250 index, which can 
reduce the awards by up to 50%. The 2016 LTIP matrix is designed such that up to 100% of the award (prior 
to the application of the underpin) will vest in full in the event of both Hard NAV increasing by 15% per year 
on a cumulative basis, from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2018, and TSR increasing by 15% per year on a 
cumulative basis from the date of award to 31 March 2019, using an industry-standard average price period at 
the beginning and end of the performance period. Further, the matrix is designed such that 30% of the award 
shall vest (again prior to the application of the underpin) if the cumulative increase is 8% per annum for both 
measures over their respective performance periods (“threshold performance”). A straight-line sliding scale is 
applied for performance between the distinct points on the matrix of vesting targets.

The 2015 LTIP awards were made on 21 May 2015. The awards will ordinarily vest on 31 March 2018, to the 
extent that the performance conditions have been met. The awards are based on the performance of the 
Group’s Hard NAV and Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”). Both performance measures are combined into a 
matrix format to most appropriately measure performance relative to the business, as shown in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report within the Group’s 2017 Annual Report and Accounts. The total award is subject to an 
underpin based on the relative performance of the Group’s TSR to that of the FTSE 250 index, which can 
reduce the awards by up to 50%. The 2015 LTIP matrix is designed such that up to 100% of the award (prior 
to the application of the underpin) will vest in full in the event of both Hard NAV increasing by 15% per year 
on a cumulative basis, from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017, and TSR increasing by 15% per year on a 
cumulative basis from the date of award to 31 March 2018, using an industry-standard average price period at 
the beginning and end of the performance period. Further, the matrix is designed such that 30% of the award 
shall vest (again prior to the application of the underpin) if the cumulative increase is 8% per annum for both 
measures over their respective performance periods (“threshold performance”). A straight-line sliding scale is 
applied for performance between the distinct points on the matrix of vesting targets.

The 2014 LTIP awards did not meet the threshold performance target and lapsed on 31 March 2017. 

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CONTINUED

22. Share-Based Payments continued
The movement in the number of shares conditionally awarded under the LTIP is set out below: 

At 1 January

Lapsed during the year

Forfeited during the year

Vested during the year 

Notionally awarded during the year

At 31 December

Exercisable at 31 December

Number of 
options 
2017

5,614,837

(1,227,666)

(3,766)

—

4,682,712 

9,066,117

—

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2017

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Number of 
options 
2016

3,378,595

(349,655)

(144,294)

(457,877)

3,188,078

5,614,837

—

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2016

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

The options outstanding at 31 December 2017 had an exercise price in the range of £nil (2016: £nil) and a 
weighted-average remaining contractual life of 1.6 years (2016: 1.6 years).

The fair value of LTIP shares notionally awarded during 2017 was calculated using Monte Carlo pricing models 
with the following key assumptions:

Share price at date of award

Exercise price

Fair value at grant date

Expected volatility (median of historical 50-day moving average)

Expected life (years)

Expected dividend yield

Risk-free interest rate

2017

£1.151

£nil

£0.34

36%

3.0

0%

0.4%

2016

£1.558

£nil

£0.41

31%

2.83

0%

1.0%

Former Touchstone LTIP
Also in 2017, as a result of the combination with Touchstone, award holders under existing Touchstone long 
term incentive share schemes were entitled to receive 2.2178 new IP Group shares in exchange for each 
Touchstone share, an exchange ratio set out in the Offer Document for the acquisition (the “Exchange Ratio”). 

2016 schemes:

It was proposed that given the short period of time since grant, awards would not become exercisable in 
connection with the Offer and therefore that no progress towards meeting performance targets had been 
made. Instead award holders were offered the opportunity to release their awards in exchange for the grant of 
a replacement award of equivalent value over shares in IP Group and the exercise price was set at 3.33 pence 
divided by the Exchange Ratio . The vesting dates on the replacement awards remained the same as the original 
award being 1 December 2020, 1 December 2022 and 1 December 2022. The replacement awards are subject to 
performance conditions adjusted from those attaching to the original Touchstone award as follows: a) the Net 
Asset Value (“NAV”) condition will be adjusted to reflect Touchstone’s portfolio being part of the enlarged group 
following the acquisition and b) the Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”) condition will be adjusted so that TSR shall 
be measured by reference to the performance of IP Group shares over the performance period with the starting 
share price for such purpose being adjusted by dividing the existing starting share price of 290 pence by the 
exchange ratio detailed above. The TTO specific targets remain the same.

150

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201722. Share-Based Payments continued

At 1 January

Number of 
options 
2017

—

Replacement shares awarded on 17 October 2017

2,875,606

Forfeited during the year

Vested during the year 

At 31 December

Exercisable at 31 December

— 

—

2,875,606

—

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2017

Number of 
options 
2016

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2016

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

The options outstanding at 31 December 2017 had an exercise price of £0.015 (2016: £nil) and a weighted-
average remaining contractual life of 2.7 years (2016: n/a).

2006 schemes:

Holders of 2006 Touchstone awards were offered the opportunity to release each of their awards in exchange 
for the grant of a replacement award of equivalent value over shares in IP Group. The exercise period and time-
based vesting provisions for the replacement awards remained the same as the original Touchstone awards 
but the shareholder return performance condition will be updated by reference to the Exchange Ratio. Awards 
under the 2006 scheme were exercisable to some extent at the time of the grant of replacement awards, 
subject to meeting the applicable vesting conditions. 

At 1 January

Replacement shares awarded on 17 October 2017

At 31 December

Exercisable at 31 December

Number of 
options 
2017

—

1,808,001

1,808,001

1,808,001

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2017

Number of 
options 
2016

Weighted-
average 
exercise price 
2016

—

£2.13

£2.13

£2.13

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

The options outstanding at 31 December 2017 had an exercise price of £2.13 (2016: £nil) and a weighted-
average remaining contractual life of 6.9 years (2016: 7.9 years).

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CONTINUED

22. Share-Based Payments continued
Former Fusion IP LTIP
In 2014, three former employees of Fusion IP plc were each conditionally awarded 1,000,000 shares in Fusion 
IP plc under the Fusion IP LTIP. As part of the arrangements for the acquisition of Fusion IP plc, the Fusion IP 
LTIP awards were converted into awards over IP Group shares at the same conversion price per share as the 
scheme of arrangement was undertaken (0.446 IP Group plc shares for every Fusion IP plc share). The awards 
were scheduled to vest on 31 December 2017 provided certain performance conditions are met which related 
to, inter alia, the growth in value of Fusion IP plc’s net asset value (“Fusion NAV”) from the date of acquisition 
and the continued employment of the individual by the Group. The options expired on 31 December 2017 as 
vesting criteria had not been met.

The movement in the number of shares conditionally awarded under the Former Fusion IP LTIP is set out below: 

At 1 January

Expired during the year

At 31 December

2017

2016

1,338,000

1,338,000

(1,338,000)

—

—

1,338,000

Fair value charge
The fair value charge recognised in the statement of comprehensive income during the year in respect of all 
share-based payments, including the DBSP, LTIP and Former Fusion IP LTIP, was £2.4m (2016: £1.5m).

23. Limited and Limited Liability Partnership Interests

At 1 January 2016

Additions during the year

Realisations in the year

Change in fair value during the year

At 1 January 2017

Additions during the year

Acquired on acquisition of subsidiary

Realisations in the year

Change in fair value during the year

At 31 December 2017

£m

4.4

0.1

— 

(0.3)

4.2

1.4

5.6

—

(0.2)

11.0

The Group considers interests in Limited and Limited Liability Partnerships to be Level 3b in the fair value 
hierarchy throughout the current and previous financial years. If the assumptions used in the valuation 
techniques for the Group’s holding in each company are varied by using a range of possible alternatives, 
there is no material difference to the carrying value of the respective spin-out company. The effect on the 
consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the period is also not expected to be material.

152

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201724. Related Party Transactions
The Group has various related parties arising from its key management, subsidiaries, equity stakes in portfolio 
companies and management of certain Limited Partnership funds.

a) Limited Partnerships
The Group manages a number of investment funds structured as Limited Partnerships. Group entities have 
a Limited Partnership interest (see note 1) and act as the general partners of these Limited Partnerships. 
The Group therefore has power to exert significant influence over these Limited Partnerships. The following 
amounts have been included in respect of these Limited Partnerships:

Statement of comprehensive income

Revenue from services

Statement of financial position

Investment in limited partnerships

Amounts due from related parties

b) Key management personnel
i) Key management personnel transactions

2017
 £m

0.7

2017
 £m

2.6

0.7

Key management had investments in the following spin-out companies as at 31 December 2017:

Director/ 
Company 
Secretary

Company name

Alan Aubrey

Accelercomm Limited

Alesi Surgical Limited

Amaethon Limited — A Shares

Amaethon Limited — B Shares

Amaethon Limited — Ordinary shares

Avacta Group plc

Boxarr Limited

Capsant Neurotechnologies Limited

Cloud Sustainability Limited

Crysalin Limited

Ditto AI Limited(iv)

Diurnal Group plc

EmDot Limited

Getech Group plc

Gunsynd plc

hVivo plc

Ilika plc

Istesso Limited(v)

Karus Therapeutics Limited

Microbiotica Limited

Mirriad Advertising plc(i)

MDL 2016 Limited — Ordinary shares

MDL 2016 Limited — A shares

Modern Water plc

Shares 
held at 
1 January 
2017

Number 
of shares 
acquired/ 
(disposed) in 
the period

Number 
of shares 
held at 
31 December 
2017

333

18

104

11,966

21

202,761

1,732

11,631

26

1,447

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

(26)

—

333

18

104

11,966

21

202,761

1,732

11,631

—

1,447

119,965,750

468,801

120,434,525

15,000

15

15,000

767,310

37,160

69,290

1,185,150

223

3,750

33,333

3,226

229

519,269

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

6,250

—

—

—

—

15,000

15

15,000

767,310

37,160

69,290

1,185,150

223

10,000

33,333

3,226

229

519,269

2016
 £m

0.9

2016
 £m

2.8

0.2

%

0.3%

0.2%

3.1%

1.0%

0.3%

0.3%

0.3%

0.8%

0.0%

0.1%

9.0%

<0.1%

0.9%

<0.1%

<0.1%

<0.1%

<0.1%

1.7%

<0.1%

<0.1%

<0.1%

0.4%

0.5%

0.7%

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CONTINUED

24. Related Party Transactions continued

Director/ 
Company 
Secretary

Alan Aubrey
continued

Company name

Cronin Group plc
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited
Perachem Holdings plc
Salunda Limited
Structure Vision Limited
Surrey Nanosystems Limited
Tissue Regenix Group plc
Xeros Technology Group plc
Zeetta Networks Limited

Mike Townend Amaethon Limited — A Shares
Amaethon Limited — B Shares
Amaethon Limited — Ordinary shares
Applied Graphene Materials plc
Avacta Group plc
Capsant Neurotechnologies Limited
Cloud Sustainability Limited
Creavo Technologies Limited
Crysalin Limited
Ditto AI Limited(iv)
Diurnal Group plc
EmDot Limited
Getech Group plc
Istesso Limited
Ilika plc
Itaconix plc(iii)
Mirriad Advertising plc(i)
Mode Diagnostics Limited
Modern Water plc
Cronin Group plc
Oxford Advanced Surfaces Limited
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited
Perachem Holdings plc
Structure Vision Limited
Surrey Nanosystems Limited
Tissue Regenix Group plc
Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited
Xeros Technology Group plc
Alesi Surgical Limited
Avacta Group plc
Capsant Neurotechnologies Limited
Cloud Sustainability Limited
Crysalin Limited
Ditto AI Limited(iv)
Diurnal Group plc
EmDot Limited
Encos Limited
Getech Group plc
hVivo plc

Greg Smith

Shares 
held at 
1 January 
2017

Number 
of shares 
acquired/ 
(disposed) in 
the period

Number 
of shares 
held at 
31 December 
2017

2,172,809
101,208
108,350
53,639
212
453
2,389,259
40,166
424
104
11,966
21
7,619
20,001
11,282
25
117
1,286
—
15,000
14
20,000
1,185,150
10,000
64,940
25,000
1,756
575,000
932,944
5,000
30,967
113,222
212
404
1,950,862
35
35,499
2
3,904
896
8
149
—
15,000
4
5,671
8,000
61,340

—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
15,000
—
—
(25)
—
—
613,048
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
1,189
—
—
—
—
(8)
—
144,248
—
—
—
—
—

2,172,809
101,208
108,350
53,639
212
453
2,389,259
40,166
424
104
11,966
21
22,619
20,001
11,282
—
117
1,286
613,048
15,000
14
20,000
1,185,150
10,000
64,940
25,000
1,756
575,000
932,944
5,000
30,967
113,222
212
404
1,950,862
1,224
35,499
2
3,904
896
—
149
144,248
15,000
4
5,671
8,000
61,340

%

0.4%
0.4%
0.8%
<0.1%
1.0%
0.3%
0.3%
<0.1%
<0.1%
3.1%
1.0%
0.3%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.8%
0.0%
<0.1%
0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.8%
<0.1%
1.7%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.1%
0.7%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.8%
1.0%
0.2%
0.3%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.0%
<0.1%
0.0%
<0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
<0.1%
<0.1%

154

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201724. Related Party Transactions continued

Director/ 
Company 
Secretary

Greg Smith
continued

David Baynes

Angela Leach

Company name

Istesso Limited
Perachem Holdings plc
Mirriad Advertising plc(i)
MDL 2016 Limited — Ordinary shares
MDL 2016 Limited — A shares
Modern Water plc
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited
Summit Therapeutics plc
Surrey Nanosystems Limited
Tissue Regenix Group plc
Xeros Technology Group plc
Alesi Surgical Limited
Arkivum Limited
Creavo Technologies Limited
Diurnal Group plc
Mirriad Advertising plc(i)
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited
Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited
Zeetta Networks Limited
Alesi Surgical Limited

Avacta Group plc
Boxarr Limited
Capsant Neurotechnologies Limited
Cloud Sustainability Limited
Creavo Technologies Limited
Cronin Group plc
Ditto AI Limited(iv)
Diurnal Group plc
Gunsynd plc
First Light Fusion Limited
Getech Group plc
hVivo plc
Istesso Limited
Mirriad Advertising plc(i)
MDL 2016 Limited — Ordinary Shares
MDL 2016 Limited — A Shares
Modern Water plc
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited
Structure Vision Limited
Surrey Nanosystems Limited
Tissue Regenix Group plc

Ultrahaptics Holdings Limited

Xeros Technology Group plc

Shares 
held at 
1 January 
2017

Number 
of shares 
acquired/ 
(disposed) in 
the period

Number 
of shares 
held at 
31 December 
2017

313,425
4,830
16,667
361
28
7,250
1,581
798
88
50,000
1,392
4
377
46
73,000
16,667
174
26
424
2

1,897
102
1,858
10
23
68,101
—
11,500
7,990
17
2,083
25,903
322,923
16,667
606
102
15,570
1,782
21
90
276,791

5

5,666

—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

—
—
—
(10)
—
—
180,308
—
—
10
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
(130,000)

—

(3,971)

313,425
4,830
16,667
361
28
7,250
1,581
798
88
50,000
1,392
4
377
46
73,000
16,667
174
26
424
2

1,897
102
1,858
—
23
68,101
180,308
11,500
7,990
27
2,083
25,903
322,923
16,667
606
102
15,570
1,782
21
90
146,791

5

1,695

%

0.5%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%

<0.1%
<0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
<0.1%
<0.1%
>0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.5%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.2%
<0.1%
<0.1%
0.1%
<0.1%
<0.1%

<0.1%

<0.1%

i  Mirriad Advertising plc was formerly known as Mirriad Advertising Limited

ii  Cloud Sustainability Limited was acquired during the year by Ditto AI Limited

iii 

Itaconix plc was formerly known as Revolymer plc

iv  Ditto AI Limited was formerly known as Empircom Limited

v 

Istesso Limited was formerly known as Modern Biosciences plc

25829-04      23 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

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CONTINUED

24. Related Party Transactions continued
ii) Key management personnel compensation

Key management personnel compensation comprised the following:

Short-term employee benefits(i)

Post-employment benefits(ii)

Other long-term benefits

Termination benefits

Share-based payments(iii)

Total

2017
 £’000s

2,144

116

—

—

837

3,097

2016
 £’000s

1,489

71

—

—

623

2,183

i 

Represents key management personnel’s base salaries, benefits including cash in lieu of pension where relevant, and the cash settled element of 
the Annual Incentive Scheme.

ii  Represents employer contributions to defined contribution pension and life assurance plans

iii  Represents the accounting charge for share based payments, reflecting LTIP and DBSP options currently in issue as part of these schemes. See 

note 22 for a detailed description of these schemes.

c) Portfolio companies
i) Services

The Group earns fees from the provision of business support services and corporate finance advisory to 
portfolio companies in which the Group has an equity stake. Through the lack of control over portfolio 
companies these fees are considered arms-length transactions. The following amounts have been included in 
respect of these fees:

Statement of comprehensive income

Revenue from services

Statement of financial position

Trade receivables

2017
 £m

1.9

2017
 £m

0.5

2016
 £m

1.6

2016
 £m

0.7

156

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201724. Related Party Transactions continued
ii) Investments

The Group makes investments in the equity and debt of unquoted and quoted investments where it does 
not have control but may be able to participate in the financial and operating policies of that company. It is 
presumed that it is possible to exert significant influence when the equity holding is greater than 20%. The 
Group has taken the investment entity exception as permitted by IFRS 10 and has not equity accounted for 
these investments, in accordance with IAS 28, but they are related parties. The total amounts included for 
investments where the Group has significant influence but not control are as follows:

Statement of comprehensive income

Net gains/(losses) on disposals

Change in fair value of equity and debt investments

Statement of financial position

Equity and debt investments

2017
 £m

0.7

49.0

2017
 £m

619.5

2016
 £m

—

(17.9)

2016
 £m

200.7

d) Subsidiary companies
Subsidiary companies that are not 100% owned either directly or indirectly by the parent Company have 
intercompany balances with other Group companies totalling as follows:

Statement of financial position

Intercompany balances with other Group companies

2017
 £m

3.2

2016
 £m

10.7

These intercompany balances represent funding loans provided by Group companies that are interest free, 
repayable on demand and unsecured.

25. Capital Management
The Group’s key objective when managing capital is to safeguard the Group’s ability to continue as a going 
concern so that it can continue to provide returns for shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders.

The Group sets the amount of capital in proportion to risk. The Group manages the capital structure, 
and makes adjustments to it, in light of changes in economic conditions and the risk characteristics of its 
underlying assets. In order to maintain or adjust the capital structure, the Group may adjust the amount of 
issued new shares or dispose of interests in more mature portfolio companies.

During 2017, the Group’s strategy, which was unchanged from 2016, was to maintain healthy cash and short-
term deposit balances that enable it to provide capital to all portfolio companies, as determined by the Group’s 
investment committee, whilst having sufficient cash reserves to meet all working capital requirements in the 
foreseeable future.

The Group has an external debt facility with associated covenants that are described in Note 19.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

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CONTINUED

26. Capital Commitments
Commitments to university partnerships
A number of the Group’s partnerships with research intensive universities in the UK include certain 
arrangements to provide seed capital to spin-out companies arising from such universities. As at 31 December 
2017, the balances were as follows:

Partnership

University of Southampton(i)
King’s College London(ii)
University of York — CNAP(iii)
University of Leeds(iv)
University of Bristol(v)
University of Surrey(vi)
University of York(iii)
Queen Mary University of London(vii)
University of Bath(viii)
University of Glasgow(ix)
University of Manchester(x)

Year of 
commencement of 
partnership

Original 
commitment 
£m

Invested to 
date £m

Remaining 
commitment 
£m

2002

2003

2003

2005

2005

2006

2006

2006

2006

2006

2013

5.0

5.0

0.8

4.2

5.0

5.0

5.0

5.0

5.0

5.0

7.5

3.6

1.8

0.2

1.5

1.2

0.5

0.3

0.8

0.4

2.0

0.5

1.4

3.2

0.6

2.7

3.8

4.5

4.7

4.2

4.6

3.0

7.0

52.5

12.8

39.7

i 

Under the terms of an agreement entered into in 2002 between the Group, the University of Southampton and certain of the University of Southampton’s 
subsidiaries, IP2IPO Limited agreed to make £5.0m available for the purposes of making investments in University of Southampton spin-out companies. 

ii  Under the terms of an agreement entered into during 2003 between the Group and King’s College London (“KCL”) and King’s College London Business Limited 

(formerly KCL Enterprises Limited), the Group agreed to make £5.0m available for the purposes of making investments in spin-out companies. Under the terms of 
this agreement, KCL was previously able to require the Company to make a further £5.0m available for investments in spin-out companies on the tenth anniversary 
of the partnership. However, the 2003 agreement was terminated and replaced by a revised agreement between the same parties on 12 November 2010. Under the 
revised agreement, the Group agreed to target investing the remaining commitment of £3.2m over a three-year period; KCL cannot, however, require the Group to 
make any additional funds available. Other changes effected by the revised agreement included the removal of the Group’s automatic entitlement to initial partner 
equity in every spin-out company and/or a share of KCL’s licensing fees from intellectual property commercialisation and to the termination rights of the parties.

iii 

In 2003, the Group entered into an agreement with the University of York. The agreement relates to a specialist research centre within the University of York, the Centre 
for Novel Agricultural Products (“CNAP”). The Group has committed to invest up to a total of £0.8m in spin-out companies based on CNAP’s intellectual property. In 
2006, the Group extended its partnership with the University of York to cover the entire university. The Group has committed to invest £5.0m in University of York spin-
outs over and beyond the £0.8m commitment as part of the Group’s agreement with CNAP. The agreement with the University of York was amended during 2013 so as 
to alter the process by which the Group evaluates commercialisation opportunities and the level of initial partner equity the Group is entitled to as a result. Further, the 
Group’s automatic entitlement to share in any of the University of York’s proceeds from out-licensing has been removed from the agreement.

iv  The Group extended its partnership with the University of Leeds in July 2005 by securing the right with associated contractual commitment to invest up to £5.0m 
in University of Leeds spin-out companies. This agreement was varied in March 2011 to, amongst other things, remove the Group’s entitlement to a share of out-
licensing income generated by the University of Leeds except in certain specific circumstances where the Group is involved in the relevant out-licensing opportunity. 
Under the terms of the variation agreement, subject to quality and quantity of the investment opportunities, the Group, IP Assist Services Limited and the University 
of Leeds have agreed to target annual investments of at least £0.7m in aggregate and, subject to earlier termination or the parties otherwise agreeing alternative 
target, to review this target on 30 April 2017. 

v 

In December 2005, the Group entered into an agreement with the University of Bristol. The Group has committed to invest up to a total of £5.0m in University of 
Bristol spin-out companies. 

vi  Under the terms of an agreement entered into in 2006 between the Group and the University of Surrey, the Group has committed to invest up to a total of £5.0m in 

spin-out companies based on the University of Surrey’s intellectual property. 

In July 2006, the Group entered into an agreement with Queen Mary University of London (“QM”) to invest in QM spin-out companies. The Group has committed to 
invest up to a total of £5.0m in QM spin-out companies. The agreement was amended in January 2014, primarily to remove the Group’s entitlement to licence fees 
save where it is involved in the development or licensing of the relevant IP and, in most cases, to replace the Group’s automatic entitlement to a share of the initial 
equity in any spin-out company with an equivalent warrant exercisable at the seed stage of the relevant company.

In September 2006, the Group entered into an agreement with the University of Bath to invest in University of Bath spin-out companies. The Group has committed 
to invest up to a total of £5.0m in University of Bath spin-out companies. The agreement with the University of Bath was amended during 2009 so as to remove 
the Group’s automatic entitlement to a share of the initial equity or licence fees (as applicable) received by the University of Bath from the commercialisation of its 
intellectual property in the event that the Group and its employees have not been actively involved in developing the relevant opportunity.

In October 2006, the Group entered into an agreement with the University of Glasgow to invest in University of Glasgow spin-out companies. The Group has 
committed to invest up to a total of £5.0m in University of Glasgow spin-out companies. 

In February 2013, the Group entered into a commercialisation agreement with the University of Manchester. Initially the Group had agreed to make available an 
initial facility of up to £5.0m to provide capital to new proof of principle projects (excluding graphene projects) intended for commercialisation through spin-out 
companies. During January 2014, the Group extended its agreement to include funding for graphene projects; increased the capital commitment by a further £2.5m, 
bringing the total to £7.5m; and extended the agreement to 2019.

vii 

viii 

ix 

x 

xi 

158

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201726. Capital Commitments continued
Commitments to limited partnerships
Pursuant to the terms of their Limited Partnership agreements, the Group has committed to invest the 
following amounts into Limited Partnerships as at 31 December 2017:

Partnership

IP Venture Fund

IP Venture Fund II L.P.

UCL Technology Fund LP

Apollo Therapeutics LLP

Total

Year of 
commencement of 
partnership

Original 
commitment 
£m

Invested to 
date 
£m

Remaining 
commitment 
£m

2006

2013

2016

2016

3.1

10.0

24.8

3.3

41.2

3.0

6.6

6.1

0.4

16.1

0.1

3.4

18.7

2.9

25.1

27. Acquisition of subsidiaries
The Group completed two corporate transactions in 2017, the combination with AIM-listed Touchstone 
Innovations plc in October and the acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors Ltd in January. Touchstone Innovations 
creates, builds and invests in technology companies and licensing opportunities developed from scientific 
research from the ‘Golden Triangle’, the geographical region broadly bounded by London, Cambridge and 
Oxford and Parkwalk is the UK’s leading university spin-out focused EIS fund manager. 

Touchstone Innovations plc:
On 17 October 2017 the Group acquired 100% of the ordinary shares in Touchstone Innovations in exchange 
for 357,518,520 ordinary shares in IP Group plc. The acquisition has been accounted for using the acquisition 
method. The consolidated financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2017 include the results of 
Touchstone Innovations for the period post the acquisition date. 

Net assets acquired

Acquired intangible assets

Investment portfolio

Other non-current assets

Trade and trade receivables 

Cash and cash equivalents

Current liabilities

Non-current liabilities

Net assets

Goodwill

Total consideration

Consideration satisfied by:

Issue of share capital (357,518,520 IP Group ordinary shares at 140.0 pence per share(i))

(i) Being the closing price of IP Group plc shares on 17 October 2017, the date of acquisition 

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Fair value 
net assets/
(liabilities)
£m

6.9

352.2

6.7

2.9

119.1

(7.5)

(88.3)

392.0

108.5

500.5

500.5

159

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CONTINUED

27. Acquisition of subsidiaries continued
Goodwill recognised on acquisition of Touchstone relates to the value attributable to its access to early stage 
commercialisation activities with top tier UK universities and the benefits from increased scale and critical 
mass and a more diverse portfolio the Group expects to benefit from. None of the goodwill recognised is 
expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

In the period since acquisition, Touchstone contributed £3.8m in portfolio return and revenue and profit of 
£0.3m to the Group’s results. Ordinarily the Group would also disclose the group consolidated revenue and 
profit had the acquisition occurred on 1 January 2017 in accordance with IFRS 3 however, management have 
determined it impractical to do so. It has been determined to be impractical as the retrospective application 
requires assumptions about what management’s intent would have been for the period and also requires 
significant estimates of amounts and it is impossible to distinguish objectively information about those 
estimates that provides evidence of circumstances that existed on the dates as at which those amounts are 
to be recognised, measured and disclosed and would have been available when the financial statements for 
that prior period were authorised for issue from other information. Specifically, this relates to the valuation of 
unquoted equity investments. 

In accordance with the terms of the acquisition agreement, the Group exchanged equity-settled share based 
payment awards held by employees of Touchstone for equity settled share based payment awards of IP Group. 
The details of the acquiree’s awards and replacement awards were as follows:

Acquirees’ awards

Replacement awards

Terms and conditions

Scheme 1: 

Grant date:

Vesting date:

Service conditions:

Fair value at acquisition:

Scheme 2: 

Grant date:

Vesting date:

Service conditions:

Fair value at acquisition:

Scheme 3: 

Grant date:

Vesting date:

Service conditions:

Fair value at acquisition:

Scheme 4: 

Grant date:

Vesting date:

Service conditions:

Fair value at acquisition:

26/11/2014

n/a

26/11/2019 – 26/11/2024

26/11/2019 – 26/11/2024

Continued employment

Continued employment

£0.4

04/11/2015

£0.4

n/a

26/11/2019 – 26/11/2024

26/11/2019 – 26/11/2024

Continued employment

Continued employment

£0.4

£0.4

23/11/2016

02/12/2019 

n/a

02/12/2019

Continued employment

Continued employment

£0.2m

£0.2m

23/11/2016

02/12/2020 

n/a

02/12/2020

Continued employment

Continued employment

£0.2m

£0.2m

160

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201727. Acquisition of subsidiaries continued

Scheme 5: 

Grant date:

Vesting date:

Service conditions:

Fair value at acquisition:

Scheme 6: 

Grant date:

Vesting date:

Service conditions:

Fair value at acquisition:

Acquirees’ awards

Replacement awards

23/11/2016

02/12/2021 

n/a

02/12/2020

Continued employment

Continued employment

£0.2m

£0.2m

17/10/2017

02/12/2022 

n/a

02/12/2022

Continued employment

Continued employment

£0.3m

£0.3m

The value of the total replacement awards was £1.7m. 

The Group incurred acquisition costs of £6.2m and a further £2.9m of restructuring costs in relation to the 
combination with Touchstone. Further details on acquisition and restructuring costs are included in note 8.

Parkwalk Advisors Ltd:
On 31 January 2017, the Group acquired 100% of the share capital of Parkwalk Advisors Ltd (“Parkwalk”), the 
UK’s leading university spin-out focused EIS fund manager. The initial consideration comprises £5.0m payable 
in cash, £2.5m payable in the form of newly issued IP Group ordinary shares and an additional working capital 
payment of £1.8m.

Net assets acquired

Net assets

Acquired intangible assets

Net assets

Goodwill

Total consideration

Consideration satisfied by:

Cash

Issue of share capital

Fair value 
net assets/
(liabilities)
£m

1.5

2.1

3.6

5.7

9.3

6.8

2.5

Total consideration paid includes the cost of cash paid, shares issued to date and the present value of 
contingent amounts expected to be paid

Goodwill recognised on the acquisition of Parkwalk is attributable to the technical skills, experience and track 
record of its investment and marketing teams in its niche sector as specialist EIS fund manager, its significant 
assets under management and its strong links to leading UK universities. None of the goodwill recognised is 
expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

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CONTINUED

27. Acquisition of subsidiaries continued
For the period from acquisition to 31 December 2017, Parkwalk contributed net revenue of £3.2m and profit 
of £1.6m to the Group’s results. If the acquisition had occurred on 1 January 2017, management estimates 
that the consolidated net revenue would have been £4.5m and consolidated profit would have been £1.9m. 
In determining these amounts, management has assumed that the fair value adjustments, determined 
provisionally, that arose on the date of acquisition would have been the same if the acquisition had occurred 
on 1 January 2017.

Consideration of £9.3m has been recognised to date, and a further £4.4m cost has been recognised in relation 
to the deferred and contingent consideration payable to the sellers in the year and deemed under IFRS3 to 
represent a payment for post-acquisition services.

The Group incurred acquisition costs of £0.1m in relation to the acquisition of Parkwalk in January and a further 
£0.4m was incurred in 2016 which comprised legal and due diligence fees. Further details on acquisition and 
restructuring costs are included in note 8.

28. Alternative Performance Measures (“APM”)
IP Group management believes that the alternative performance measures included in this document provide 
valuable information to the readers of the financial statements as they enable the reader to identify a more 
consistent basis for comparing the business’ performance between financial periods and provide more detail 
concerning the elements of performance which the managers of the Group are most directly able to influence 
or are relevant for an assessment of the Group. They also reflect an important aspect of the way in which 
operating targets are defined and performance is monitored by the directors. These measures are not defined 
by IFRS and therefore may not be directly comparable with other companies’ APMs, including those in the 
Group’s industry. APMs should be considered in addition to, and are not intended to be a substitute for, or 
superior to, IFRS measurements.

The Directors believe that these APMs assist in providing additional useful information on the underlying trends, 
performance and position of the Group. APMs are used to enhance the comparability of information between 
reporting periods and aid the user in understanding the Group’s performance. Consequently, APMs are used by 
the Directors and management for performance analysis, planning, reporting and incentive-setting purposes. 

162

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IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201728. Alternative Performance Measures (“APM”) continued

Calculation

2017
£m

Total equity

1,508.5

Excluding:

Goodwill

Other 
intangible 
assets

172.1

10.2

2016
£m

768.7

57.1

5.1

Hard NAV

1,326.2

706.5

APM

Hard NAV

Reference for 
reconciliation Definition and purpose

Primary 
statements

Hard NAV is defined as the 
total equity of the Group less 
intangible assets.

Excluding intangible assets 
highlights the Group’s assets 
that management can be 
reasonably expected to 
influence in the short term 
and therefore reflects the 
short-term resources available 
to drive future performance. 
Additionally, excluding 
intangible assets allows better 
comparison with the Group’s 
competitors, many of which 
operate under fund structures 
and therefore would not 
include intangible assets.

The measure shows tangible 
assets managed by the Group. 
It is used as a performance 
metric for directors and 
employees as a part of annual 
incentives in the Group. 

Hard NAV 
per share

Primary 
statements

note 20

Hard NAV per share is defined 
as Hard NAV, as defined above, 
divided by the number of 
shares in issue.

Hard NAV

£1,326.2m

£706.5m

Shares in issue 1,057,383,601

565,648,168

The measure shows tangible 
assets managed by the Group 
per share in issue. It is a useful 
measure to compare to the 
Group’s share price.

Hard NAV per 
share

125.4p

125.0p

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CONTINUED

28. Alternative Performance Measures (“APM”) continued

Calculation

2017
£m

53.4

3.9

2.4

4.4

2016
£m

(14.7)

5.6

1.5

—

64.1

(7.6)

Total 
comprehensive 
income

Excluding:

Amortisation 
of intangible 
assets

Share based 
payment 
charge

IFRS3 charge 
in respect of 
acquisition of 
subsidiary

Return on 
Hard NAV

APM

Return on 
Hard NAV

Reference for 
reconciliation Definition and purpose

Primary 
statements

Return on Hard NAV is defined 
as the total comprehensive 
income or loss for the year 
excluding charges which do 
not impact on Hard NAV, 
specifically amortisation of 
intangible assets, share based 
payment charges and the 
charge in respect of deferred 
and contingent consideration 
deemed to represent post 
acquisition services under 
IFRS3.

Return on Hard NAV is defined 
as the total comprehensive 
income or loss for the year 
excluding charges which do 
not impact on Hard NAV, 
specifically amortisation of 
intangible assets, share based 
payment charges and the 
charge in respect of deferred 
and contingent consideration 
deemed to represent post 
acquisition services under 
IFRS3.

The measure shows a summary 
of the income statement gains 
and losses which directly 
impact Hard NAV.

Primary 
statements

Return on 
Hard NAV 
excluding 
acquisition 
and 
restructuring 
costs

Return on Hard NAV excluding 
acquisition and restructuring 
costs is defined as Return on 
Hard NAV, as above, excluding 
acquisition and restructuring 
costs.

The measure shows the 
profit for the year excluding 
accounting adjustments 
and material one-off costs 
in relation to the corporate 
transactions. It allows for easier 
comparison with previous 
periods and normalises the 
performance return for the 
reader.

Return on Hard 
NAV

Excluding:

Acquisition 
and 
restructuring 
costs

Return on 
Hard NAV 
excluding 
acquisition and 
restructuring 
costs

64.1

(7.6)

9.1

0.4

73.2

(7.2)

164

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 201728. Alternative Performance Measures (“APM”) continued

Reference for 
reconciliation Definition and purpose

Primary 
statements

APM

Return on 
Hard NAV 
excluding 
acquisition 
and 
restructuring 
costs and 
Touchstone 
profits since 
acquisition 
for AIS 
performance 
targets

Net portfolio 
gains

Note 15

Calculation

2017
£m

73.2

2016
£m

(7.2)

(0.3)

—

72.9

(7.2)

49.0

7.0

0.1

(0.5)

45.1

94.2

6.5

Return on Hard NAV excluding 
acquisition and restructuring 
costs and Touchstone 
profits since acquisition for 
AIS performance targets is 
defined as Return on Hard 
NAV excluding acquisition and 
restructuring costs, as above, 
further excluding Touchstone 
net results in the period from 
acquisition to year end.

This measure has been 
agreed by the Remuneration 
Committee as the most 
appropriate basis for short 
term performance or “AIS” 
targets in the year due to the 
costs and performance not 
controllable by employees 
eligible for the scheme.

Return on Hard 
NAV excluding 
acquisition and 
restructuring 
costs

Excluding:

Touchstone 
profit from 17 
October 2017

Return on 
Hard NAV 
excluding 
acquisition and 
restructuring 
costs and 
Touchstone 
profits since 
acquisition

Change in fair 
value of equity 
and debt 
investments

Gain on 
disposal 
of equity 
investments

Gain on 
disposal of 
subsidiary

Net portfolio 
gains

Net portfolio gains are 
defined as the movement in 
the value of holdings in the 
portfolio due to share price 
movements or impairments 
in value, gains or losses on 
realisation of investments and 
gains or losses on disposals of 
subsidiaries.

The measure shows a summary 
of the income statement gains 
and losses which are directly 
attributable to the portfolio 
which is a headline measure 
for the Group’s performance. 
This is a key driver of the 
Return on Hard NAV which 
is the performance metric 
for directors’ and employees’ 
annual incentives.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

165

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Group notesNotes to the consolidated financial statements 
CONTINUED

29. Post Balance Sheet Events
Between 31 December 2017 and the date of these reports and accounts the fair value of the Group’s holdings 
in companies whose shares are listed on the AIM market experienced a net fair value decrease of £30.1m.

In March 2018 portfolio company Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited announced it had raised £100m in 
new investment. Funds were raised from global investors including GIC (Singapore), CCB International (China), 
Hostplus (Australia) and existing investors. The funds will be used to support the company’s next stage of 
commercial expansion.

166

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Company balance sheet
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2017

ASSETS

Fixed assets

Investment in subsidiary undertakings

Equity and debt investments

Other investments

Loans to subsidiary undertakings

Trade and other receivables

Total assets

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

Capital and reserves

Called up share capital

Share premium account

Merger reserve

Retained earnings

Total equity 

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables

Non-current liabilities

EIB debt facility

Deferred and contingent consideration payable on acquisition

Total liabilities

Total equity and liabilities

Registered number: 4204490

Our Financials Company statements

Note

2017
 £m

2016
 £m

2

3

4

5

6

6

6

6

637.3

52.3

0.8

592.9

—

1,283.3

21.1

683.1

508.6

36.1

1,248.9

127.6

1.0

0.6

409.0

0.1

538.3

11.3

504.7

12.8

(5.7)

523.1

1.1

0.3

29.9

3.4

34.4

14.9

—

15.2

1,283.3

538.3

The accompanying notes form an integral part of the financial statements. The financial statements on pages 
167 to 182 were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 29 March 2018 and were signed 
on its behalf by:

GREG SMITH
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

ALAN AUBREY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

167

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com 
Statement of changes in equity 
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2017

At 1 January 2016

Comprehensive income

At 1 January 2017

Comprehensive income

Issue of equity

At 31 December 2017

Attributable to equity holders of the parent

Share 
capital 
£m

11.3

—

11.3

—

9.8

21.1

Share 
premium(i) 

£m

504.7

—

504.7

—

178.4

683.1

Merger 
reserve(ii) 
£m

12.8

—

12.8

—

495.8

508.6

Retained 
earnings(iii) 

£m

(4.5)

(1.2)

(5.7)

41.8

—

36.1

Total 
£m

524.3

(1.2)

523.1

41.8

684.0

1,248.9

i 

Share premium — Amount subscribed for share capital in excess of nominal value, net of directly attributable issue costs.

ii  Merger reserve — Amount subscribed for share capital in excess of nominal value in relation to the qualifying acquisition of subsidiary 

undertakings.

iii  Retained earnings — Cumulative net gains and losses recognised in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income net of associated 

share-based payments credits.

168

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Company statements

Notes to the company financial statements 

1. Accounting Policies
These financial statements were prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 101 Reduced 
Disclosure Framework (“FRS 101”). 

In preparing these financial statements, the Company applies the recognition, measurement and disclosure 
requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU (“Adopted IFRSs”), but 
makes amendments where necessary in order to comply with Companies Act 2006 and has set out below 
where advantage of the FRS 101 disclosure exemptions has been taken.

Under section s408 of the Companies Act 2006 the company is exempt from the requirement to present its 
own profit and loss account.

In these financial statements, the company has applied the exemptions available under FRS 101 in respect of 
the following disclosures: a Cash Flow Statement and related notes; disclosures in respect of transactions 
with wholly owned subsidiaries; disclosures in respect of capital management; the effects of new but not yet 
effective IFRSs; and disclosures of compensation of Key Management Personnel.

As the consolidated financial statements include the equivalent disclosures, the Company has also taken the 
exemptions under FRS 101 available in respect of the following disclosures: IFRS 2 Share Based Payments 
in respect of group settled share based payments; and certain disclosures required by IFRS 13 Fair Value 
Measurement and the disclosures required by IFRS 7 Financial Instrument Disclosures.

The Company proposes to continue to adopt the reduced disclosure framework of FRS 101 in its next  
financial statements.

The accounting policies set out below have, unless otherwise stated, been applied consistently to all periods 
presented in these financial statements.

Investments 
Investments are held at fair value through profit and loss vision for impairment in value and are held for long-
term investment purposes.

The valuation methods applied are the same as those at the Group level; details of which can be found in note 
1 to the Group’s financial accounts on pages 120 to 129.

Intercompany loans

All intercompany loans are initially recognised at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost. 
Where intercompany loans are intended for use on a continuing basis in the Company’s activities, and there is 
no intention of their settlement in the foreseeable future, they are presented as fixed assets.

Financial instruments
Currently the Company does not enter into derivative financial instruments. Financial assets and financial 
liabilities are recognised and cease to be recognised on the basis of when the related titles pass to or from the 
Company. 

2. Investments in Subsidiary Undertakings 

At 1 January 2017

Acquisition of subsidiary undertakings in the year

At 31 December 2017

Details of the Company’s subsidiary undertakings as at 31 December 2017 are detailed in Note 9 of the 
Company financial statements.

 £m

127.6

509.7

637.3

169

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comNotes to the company financial statements  
CONTINUED 

3. Equity and debt investments 

At 1 January 2017

Fair value gains in the year

De-recognition of subsidiary during  
the year

At 31 December 2017

 £m

1.0

0.2

51.1

52.3

Details of the Company’s associated undertakings and significant holdings as at 31 December 2017 are detailed 
Note 10 of the Company financial statements.

4. Other Investments

At 1 January 2017

Investment during the year

At 31 December 2017

5. Loans to Subsidiary Undertakings

At 1 January 2017

Reclassification of intercompany debt to debt investments on derecognition of subsidiary during 
the year

Net advancement of loans to subsidiary undertakings during the year

At 31 December 2017

The amounts due from subsidiary undertakings are interest free, repayable on demand and unsecured.

6. Share Capital and Reserves

At 1 January 2017

Profit for the year

Issue of equity

At 31 December 2017

Share 
capital 
£m

Share 
premium 
£m

11.3

—

9.8

21.1

504.7

—

178.4

683.1

Merger 
reserve 
£m

12.8

—

495.8

508.6

 £m

0.6

0.2

0.8

 £m

409.0

(2.1)

186.0

592.9

Profit 
and loss 
reserve 
£m

(5.7)

41.8

—

36.1

Details of the Company’s authorised share capital and changes in its issued share capital can be found in 
note 20 to the consolidated financial statements. Details of the movement in the share premium account can 
be found in the consolidated statement of changes in equity.

7. Profit and Loss Account
As permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the Company’s profit and loss account has not been 
included in these financial statements. The Company’s profit for the year was £41.8m (2016: £1.2m loss).

Details of the auditor’s remuneration are disclosed in note 6 to the consolidated financial statements.

8. Directors’ Emoluments, Employee Information and Share-Based Payments
The remuneration of the Directors is borne by Group subsidiary undertakings. Full details of their remuneration 
can be found in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 80 to 99. Full details of the share-based 
payments charge and related disclosures can be found in note 22 to the consolidated financial statements.

The Company had no employees during 2017 or 2016. 

170

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Company statements

9. Details of subsidiary undertakings

Name of subsidiary undertakings
IP2IPO Limited
IP2IPO Management Limited
IP2IPO Carry Partner Limited
IP2IPO Americas Limited
IP2IPO FI Limited
IP2IPO US Partners Limited
IP Group Inc.
Top Technology Ventures Limited(iii)
Fusion IP plc
Fusion IP Sheffield Limited
Fusion IP Cardiff Limited
IP Venture Fund (GP) Limited(iii)
IP Venture Fund II (GP) LLP(iii)
IP Ventures (Scotland) Limited(iii)
North East Technology (GP) Limited(iii)
IP2IPO Portfolio (GP) Limited(iii)
IP Capital Limited(ii)
IP2IPO Asia-Pacific Limited
IP Assist Services Limited
IP2IPO Australia Pty Limited
Parkwalk Advisors Ltd
Touchstone Innovations plc
Touchstone Innovations Investment Management Ltd
Imperial Innovations Ltd
Touchstone Innovations Investments Ltd
Innovations Limited Partner Ltd
Imperial College Company Maker Ltd
Imperial Innovations Sárl
Touchstone Innovations Businesses LLP
Imperial Innovations LLP
MOBILion, Systems Inc
FedImpact LLC
IP2IPO Nominees Limited(ii)
IP2IPO Services Limited(ii)
LifeUK (IP2IPO) Limited(ii)
IP Industry Partners Limited(ii)
 Union Life Sciences Limited — Ordinary shares
 Union Life Sciences Limited — Preference shares(ix)
Union Life Sciences Limited — Total
Biofusion Licensing (Sheffield) Limited(ii),(vi)
Fusion IP Nottingham Limited(ii),(vi)
Fusion IP Two Limited(ii),(vi)
Asterion Limited
Medella Therapeutics Limited
PH Therapeutics Limited
Extraject Technologies Limited
Stratium Limited
IP Venture Fund II L.P.(vii)

Proportion 
of ownership 
interest 
%(i)

Proportion of 
voting power 
held 
%(i)

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
63.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
95.0
100.0
95.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
66.8
60.0
60.0
60.0
52.9
33.3

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
63.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
95.0
100.0
95.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
66.8
60.0
60.0
60.0
52.9
33.3

 Proportion of 
nominal value 
held 
%
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
63.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
95.0
100.0
99.9
100.0
100.0
100.0
66.5
60.0
60.0
60.0
52.9
33.3

Held by 
Parent/Group
Direct
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Direct
Direct
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Direct
Direct
Direct
Direct
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Direct
Direct
Direct
Direct
Indirect
Direct
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect

i  All holdings are via Ordinary Shares unless separate classes are specified in the table.
ii  Dormant/non-trading company.
iii  Company/limited liability partnership engaged in fund management activity.
iv  Acquired as part of the Fusion IP plc acquisition.
v  As detailed in Note 1 of the Group financial statements, though less than 33.3% of beneficial and nominal interest is held by the Group, the 

Group’s position as fund manager to IP Venture Fund II L.P. means the Group fulfils the control criteria set out in IFRS10 and the fund is thus 
consolidated.

vi  Not consolidated due to immateriality.
vii  Shares which have no economic or voting rights attributed to them.

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

171

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comNotes to the company financial statements  
CONTINUED 

9. Details of subsidiary undertakings continued
All companies above have their registered offices at The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, 
EC4N 8AF unless separately listed below:
IP Group Inc: 1105 North Market Street, Suite 1800, Wilmington, DE 19801, USA.
IP Ventures (Scotland) Limited: 50 Lothian Road, Festival Square, Edinburgh, EH3 9WJ.
IP Assist Services Limited: Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9DF.
MOBILion Systems Inc.: 1105 N. Market St, Suite 1800, Wilmington, DE 19801, USA.
Asterion Limited: The Sheffield Bioincubator, 40 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, SE 7RD.
Medella Therapeutics Limited: The Sheffield Bioincubator, 40 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, SE 7RD.
PH Therapeutics Limited: The Sheffield Bioincubator, 40 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, SE 7RD.
Extraject Technologies Limited: Suite 18, Cardiff Medicentre, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4UJ.
Progenteq Limited: Suite 18, Cardiff Medicentre, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4UJ.
Stratium Limited: 15th Floor, Brunel House, 2 Fitzalan Road, Cardiff, CF24 0EB.
Parkwalk Advisors Ltd: 52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PG
Touchstone Innovations plc: 7 Air Street, London, W1B 5AD
Touchstone innovations Investment Management Limited: 7 Air Street, London, W1B 5AD
Touchstone Innovations Investments Ltd: 7 Air Street, London, W1B 5AD
Imperial Innovations Limited: 7 Air Street, London, W1B 5AD
Imperial College Company Maker Ltd: 52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PG
Imperial Innovations LLP: 52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PG
Innovations Limited Partner Ltd: 52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PG
Touchstone Innovations Businesses LLP: 17 Boulevard Prince Henri, Luxembourg, L1724
Imperial Innovations Sarl: 17 Boulevard Prince Henri, Luxembourg, L1724
IP2IPO Australia Pty Limited: Level 11, 1 Margaret Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia.

All companies above are incorporated in England and Wales with the exception of IP Ventures (Scotland) 
Limited which is incorporated in Scotland, IP Group Inc and MobilION Inc which were incorporated in Delaware, 
USA, IP2IPO Australia Pty Limited which is incorporated in Australia and Touchstone Innovations Sarl and 
Imperial Innovations Sarl, both incorporated in Luxembourg. 

All companies above undertake the activity of commercialising intellectual property unless stated otherwise. 
All companies are consolidated into the Group’s financial performance and position following the acquisition 
method bar those specified which are omitted due being immaterial.

172

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Company statements

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings

Name of undertaking

Registered address

IP Venture Fund(ii) 

8Power Limited

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, EC4N 8AF

Future Business Centre, King's Hedges Road, Cambridge, United 
Kingdom, CB4 2HY

Abingdon Health Limited:

National Agri-Food Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, YO41 1LZ

 Ordinary shares

  Preferred ordinary shares

Absynth Biologics Limited:

Biohub at Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 4TG

 A Ordinary shares

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Accelercomm Limited 

2 Venture Road, Southampton Science Park, Chilworth, 
Southampton, SO16 7NP

Actual Experience plc

Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, Somerset, BA1 1UA

Alesi Surgical Limited:

Cardiff Medicentre, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4UJ

 B shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preferred B shares

 Preferred Ordinary shares

Amaethon Limited:

Heslington Hall, Heslington, York, North Yorkshire, YO10 5DD

 A Ordinary shares

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Anacail Limited:

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

First Floor, South Suite, Telford Pavilion West Of Scotland Science 
Park, Maryhill Road, Glasgow, Scotland, G20 0XA

Anywhere HPLC Limited

52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PG

Aperio Pharma Limited

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

Apcintex Limited:

C/o Medicxi, 25 Great Pulteney Street, London, England, W1F 9LT

 A Preference shares

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Aptatek Biosciences, Inc.

Aqdot Limited:

 EIS shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preferred shares

Arkivum Limited

Art of Xen Limited:

 A Preference shares

 B Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Corporation Trust Centre, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, New 
Castle, DE 19801

Lab 1 Iconix 2 Iconix Park, London Road, Cambridge, CB22 3EG

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, EC4N 8AF

NHS Liaison Unit 4th Floor Mckenzie House 30-36 Newport Road, 
Cardiff, CF24 0DE

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

10.0%

33.0%

33.6%

0.0%

47.0%

62.0%

43.8%

100.0%

52.0%

25.6%

22.2%

28.7%

100.0%

57.0%

9.7%

40.3%

27.6%

52.9%

27.6%

0.0%

40.3%

40.7%

39.9%

50.0%

46.1%

43.2%

43.2%

0.0%

0.0%

40.0%

73.9%

0.0%

0.0%

73.9%

39.3%

99.8%

100.0%

100.0%

0.0%

Held by 
Parent/
Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

 Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

173

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comNotes to the company financial statements  
CONTINUED 

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Helen Wadsworth, Skempton Building, Imperial College Room 205, 
Skempton Building, Imperial College, London, London, SW7 2AZ

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, 
Hertfordshire, England, SG1 2FX

49.6%

Group

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

49.9%

Held by 
Parent/
Group

Group

Atazoa Limited

Auspherix Limited:

 Ordinary shares

 Series A1 Preferred shares

  Series A 2 Preferred shares

Autifony Therapeutics Limited:

 Ordinary shares

 A Ordinary shares

 A2 Preference shares

 A3 Preference shares

Avacta Group plc

Azellon Limited:

 A Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, 
Hertfordshire, England, SG1 2FX

Unit 20 Ash Way, Thorp Arch Estate, Wetherby, LS23 7FA

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

Azuri Technologies Limited:

St. John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS

 A Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Boxarr Limited

65 London Road, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 1LJ

Calcico Therapeutics Limited:

Oxford Science Park, Magdalen Centre, Robert Robinson Avenue, 
Oxford, OX4 4GA

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

 Seed Preference shares

Cagen Limited

52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, United Kingdom, SW7 2PG

Capsant Neurotechnologies 
Limited:

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

Cardian Limited:

 A Preferred shares

 Ordinary shares

Cardiovascular Imaging 
Solutions Limited

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

30 Broad Street Broad Street, Great Cambourne, Cambridge, 
England, CB23 6HJ

53 Cavendish Road, London, SW12 0BL

C-Capture Limited:

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9DF

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

174

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

0.0%

0.0%

49.6%

26.4%

1.7%

0.0%

28.9%

31.3%

22.9%

32.5%

0.0%

32.5%

42.6%

48.5%

37.4%

44.3%

40.7%

50.0%

0.0%

33.3%

45.0%

50.0%

0.0%

40.8%

39.2%

100.0%

16.4%

24.9%

36.7%

0.0%

40.8%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Company statements

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Cell Medica Limited:

1 Canal Side Studios, 8-14 St Pancras Way, London, NW1 0QG

 A Preference shares

 B Preference shares

 C Preference shares

 BCM Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Celltron Networks Limited

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9DF

Ceres Power Holdings plc

Viking House, Foundry Lane, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 5PX

Charterdirect shipping Limited Cs Lng Limited Cs Lng Limited, 3rd Floor, 207 Regent Street, 

London, United Kingdom, W1B 3HH

Chip Diagnostics, Inc.

251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, New Castle, DE, 19808

Chrysalix Technologies Limited 52 Princes Gate, London, United Kingdom, SW7 2PG

City Orbit Limited

Concirrus Limited:

 Ordinary shares

 Series A shares

Convincis Limited

Level 2 Bessemer Building, Imperial Incubator, London, SW7 2AZ

The Leathermarket, Unit 17.2 Leathermarket Street, London, United 
Kingdom, SE1 3HN

52 Princes Gate, London, SW7 2PG

Cortexica Vision Systems 
Limited

3rd Floor, Wework Southbank Central, Stamford Street, London, 
England, SE1 9LQ

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

Held by 
Parent/
Group

24.6%

16.4%

30.0%

22.8%

0.0%

30.2%

30.0%

25.4%

35.0%

38.9%

40.0%

50.0%

64.1%

0.0%

100.0%

49.9%

30.0%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9DF

38.1%

Group

Creavo Medical Technologies 
Limited:

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

 Z shares

100.0%

38.5%

0.0%

22.1%

33.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

27.7%

0.0%

27.7%

100.0%

Crescendo Biologics Limited:

Meditrina Building, Babraham Research Campus, 
Cambridge, CB22 3AT

 A Preference shares

 AI Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

 Seed shares

 X shares

Cronin Group plc:

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

 OAS Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Cryptographiq Limited

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, West 
Yorkshire, LS2 9DF

Crysalin Limited:

The Walbrook Buliding, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

25.3%

 A shares

 B shares

 C shares

 D shares

 Ordinary shares

Cynash, Inc.

251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, New Castle, DE, 19808

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

27.0%

55.6%

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

175

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comOur Financials Company Statements

Notes to the company financial statements  
CONTINUED 

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Defenition Limited:

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, 
LS2 9DF

Digitalstitch Limted

10 John Street, London, WC1N 2EB

Ditto AI Limited:

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9DF

 A Ordinary shares

 B Ordinary shares

  B Redeemable non-voting 

shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preferred Ordinary shares

  Redeemable Preference 

shares

Diurnal Group plc:

Cardiff Medicentre, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4UJ

 B shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preference shares

Dukosi Limited

Unit 4 Bush House Cottages, Edinburgh Technopole, 
Milton Bridge, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0BA

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

49.5%

Held by 
Parent/
Group

Group

100.0%

48.5%

25.7%

38.5%

0.0%

76.6%

0.0%

33.5%

0.0%

100.0%

44.7%

0.0%

44.7%

0.0%

47.3%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Dynamic Vision Systems 
Limited

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, England,  
LS2 9DF

21.5%

Group

Econic Technologies Limited:

Block 19s Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, SK10 4TG

 A Ordinary shares

 A Preference shares

 B Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Edgetic Limited:

 Ordinary shares

 Research Cost shares

Eight19 Limited:

 A Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, United 
Kingdom, LS2 9DF

Unit 9a Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, 
Cambridgeshire, CB4 0FE

Embody Orthopaedic Limited Imperial Innovations 52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, 

England, SW7 2PG

Emcision Limited

3rd Floor, 1 Ashley Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2DT

Enachip, Inc.

PHS Corporate Services, Inc., 1313 N Market Street, STE, 5100, 
Wilmington, New Castle, DE, 19801

Enterprise Therapeutics 
Limited:

Sussex Innovation Centre Science Park Square, Falmer, Brighton, 
England, BN1 9SB

 Ordinary shares

 Series A shares

Entia Limited

52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PG

53.4%

86.3%

41.2%

50.0%

14.6%

56.1%

56.1%

0.0%

50.0% 

54.2%

0.0%

31.4%

20.3%

33.3%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

43.1%

Group

0.0%

47.6%

24.4%

Group

Group

Group

176

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Company statements

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Epsilon-3 Bio Limited:

 A Preferred shares

 Ordinary shares

Escubed Limited

Moneta Building Babraham Research Campus, Babraham, 
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB22 3AT

Unit 651 E-H Street 5, Thorp Arch Estate, Wetherby, England,  
LS23 7FZ

Exyn Technologies, Inc. 

203 NE Front Street STE 101, Milford, Kent, DE, 19963

Fault Current Limited:

The Maltings East Tyndall Street, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, CF24 5EZ

Broers Building 2nd Floor, 21 J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge,  
CB3 0FA

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

Featurespace Limited:

 A Preference shares

 B Preference shares

 C Preference shares

 D Preference shares

 E Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

 X Ordinary shares

First Light Fusion Limited:

Unit 10 Mead Road, Yarnton, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, 
OX5 1QU

 A Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Fluid Pharma Limited:

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, 
LS2 9DF

Garrison Technology Limited:

117 Waterloo Road, London, England, SE1 8UL

 A Preference shares

 A1 Preference shares

 A2 Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Genomics plc

King Charles House, Park End Street, Oxford, United Kingdom,  
OX1 1JD

Glythera Limited:

Inex Herschel Annex, Kings Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU

 A Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Gripable Limited

52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, England, 
SW7 2PG

Hexxcell Limited

52 Princes Gate, London, SW7 2PG

I2L Research Limited:

Capital Business Park, Wentloog, Cardiff, CF3 2PX

 A Ordinary shares

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

22.6%

28.1%

0.0%

20.0%

46.6%

43.1%

80.6%

42.3%

27.9%

32.3%

64.4%

63.4%

39.6%

8.6%

0.0%

0.0%

34.9%

0.0%

36.0%

40.3%

87.1%

39.6%

25.1%

94.9%

25.0%

32.9%

0.0%

23.8%

32.2%

50.0%

23.1%

37.3%

30.8%

31.0%

84.0%

13.3%

0.0%

Held by 
Parent/
Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

177

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comNotes to the company financial statements  
CONTINUED 

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Ieso Digital Health Limited:

The Stable Block The Grange, 20 Market Street, Swavesey, 
Cambridge, CB24 4QG

 A Ordinary shares

 A Preference shares

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Impression Technologies 
Limited:

Unit E, Lyons Park, 46 Sayer Drive, Coventry, United Kingdom, CV5 
9PF

 Ordinary shares

 Series A shares

 Series B shares

Inflowmatix Limited:

 A Ordinary shares

 A Preferred shares

 Deferred shares

 Ordinary shares

Inivata Limited:

 A Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

 Series A shares

Instrumems, Inc.

Penningtons Manches Llp Apex Plaza, Forbury Road, Reading, 
Berkshire, United Kingdom, RG1 1AX

The Portway Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, England, 
CB21 6GS

Corporation Trust Centre, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, New 
Castle, DE 19801

Ionix Advanced Technologies 
Limited:

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, 
LS2 9DF

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Ipalk SAS

IR Pharma Limited

Istesso Limited:

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

Ixico plc

112 rye des hautes variennes, 45200, Amilly France

1st Floor Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College London 
Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbroook, London, United Kingdom, 
EC4N 8AF

42.8%

Parent

4th Floor, Griffin Court, 15 Long Lane, London, EC1A 9PN

Kesios Therapeutics Limited:

30 Broad Street, Great Cambourne, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, 
CB23 6HJ

 A Preferred shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preferred shares

Lomare Technologies Limited

52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, England, SW7 2PG

Lorem Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Renaissance Centre, 405 North King Street, Suite 500, Wilmington, 
New Castle, DE, 19801

Lumiode, Inc.

Corporation Trust Centre, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, New 
Castle, DE 19801

49.9%

Group

178

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

49.5%

85.1%

45.2%

0.0%

23.7%

56.6%

55.4%

62.5%

50.0%

63.4%

0.0%

100.0%

0.0%

34.4%

30.5%

37.5%

0.0%

31.8%

43.4%

Held by 
Parent/
Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

34.5%

Group

100.0%

34.4%

23.5%

28.0%

Group

Group

Group

Group

100.0%

39.6%

21.0%

46.0%

25.5%

25.5%

100.0%

40.0%

34.6%

Parent

Parent

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Company statements

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Magnomatics Limited:

Park House, Bernard Road, Sheffield, S2 5BQ

 A shares

 B shares

 C shares

 Ordinary shares

Medaphor Group plc:

The Cardiff Medicentre, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4UJ

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

Metabometrix Limited

Microbiotica Limited:

 Ordinary shares

 Seed shares

Mrs Judy Collingham, 10 Fern Hill, Dersingham, King's Lynn,  
Norfolk, England, PE31 6HT

Biodata Innovation Centre Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, 
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB10 1DR

33.4%

Group

Mirriad Advertising plc:

6th Floor One London Wall, London, EC2Y 5EB

 Ordinary shares

 Preference shares

Mission Therapeutics Limited: Babraham Hall, Babraham, Cambridge, CB22 3AT

 A Preference shares

 B Preference shares

 C Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Mixergy Limited

MoA Technology Limited

MDL 2016 Limited

Nascient Limited:

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preferred shares

Nexeon Limited

NGenics Global Limited

Oxehealth Limited

30 Upper High Street, Thame, Oxfordshire, OX9 3EZ

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, England,  
LS2 9DF

1 West Regent Street, Glasgow, G1 2AP

30 Broad Street, Great Cambourne, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, 
CB23 6HJ

136 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4SB

The Catalyst Baird Lane, Heslington, York, North Yorkshire,  
YO10 5GA

Sadler Building Heatley Road, Oxford Science Park, Oxford, 
Oxfordshire, England, OX4 4GE

Oxford Drug Design Limited:

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

 Deferred shares

 Ordinary shares

OxSyBio Limited:

 A shares

 Ordinary shares

Oxular Limited:

 A Preferred shares

 Ordinary shares

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

Magdalen Centre, Robert Robinson Avenue, Oxford, England,  
OX4 4GA

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

Held by 
Parent/
Group

45.7%

52.1%

100.0%

100.0%

27.3%

36.1%

0.0%

36.1%

23.0%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

0.0%

49.8%

27.7%

24.1%

52.4%

21.5%

22.5%

22.5%

22.5%

0.0%

20.4%

22.5%

41.4%

69.4%

0.0%

50.0%

94.4%

33.7%

22.5%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

36.9%

Group

29.0%

0.0%

29.0%

49.7%

100.0%

49.5%

23.1%

44.0%

0.0%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

179

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comNotes to the company financial statements  
CONTINUED 

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Perachem Holdings plc:

55 Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5RZ

  Convertible Preference 

shares

 Ordinary shares

Perlemax Limited

Perpetuum Limited:

 Series B shares

 Series C shares

 Series C1 shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preference shares

The Sheffield Bioincubator, 40 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield, S3 7RD

2 Venture, Southampton Science Park, Chilworth, Southampton, 
SO16 7NP

Phase Focus Limited:

40 Leavy Greave Road, Sheffield, S3 7RD

The Wilton Centre, Wilton, Redcar, United Kingdom, TS10 4RF

5th Floor East, 26-28 Hammersmith Grove, London, W6 7HA

4-10 The Quadrant, Abingdon Science Park, Abingdon, England, 
OX14 3YS

26.3%

Group

 A shares

 B shares

 H shares

 Ordinary shares

Plaxica Limited

Process Systems Enterprise 
Limited

PsiOxus Therapeutics Limited:

 A Preference shares

 B Preference shares

 Ordinary shares

Pulmocide Limited:

 A Ordinary shares

 A Preference shares

 B Preference shares

Quantima Limited

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

46.6%

0.0%

46.6%

34.5%

29.9%

13.4%

46.9%

0.0%

38.5%

0.0%

35.4%

26.1%

33.3%

0.0%

52.1%

45.7%

23.3%

Held by 
Parent/
Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

52.7%

24.8%

4.9%

21.0%

0.0%

4.3%

69.3%

33.3%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

22.4%

Group

0.0%

22.4%

33.4%

25.0%

Group

Group

Group

Group

33.3%

Group

26.3%

Group

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, West 
Yorkshire, United Kingdom, LS2 9DF

Quantum Motion Technologies 
Limited:

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, West 
Yorkshire, LS2 9DF

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Relitect Limited

1 West Regent Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G1 2AP

Riotech Pharmaceuticals 
Limited

49 Arrivato Plaza, Hall Street, St Helens, United Kingdom,  
WA10 1GH

Riptron Limited

Salunda Limited

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, West 
Yorkshire, LS2 9DF

6 Avonbury Business Park, Howes Lane, Bicester, Oxfordshire, 
United Kingdom, OX26 2UA

180

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Our Financials Company statements

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Sam Labs Limited:

 A Ordinary shares

 B Ordinary shares

 C Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Saw DX Limited

Sensixa Limited

Joachim Horn, Limewharf 25a Gallery, Vyner Street, London, 
Hackney, England, E2 9DG

11 The Square University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ

53 Cavendish Road, London, SW12 0BL

Seren Photonics Limited:

37b UK Technology Centre Pencoed Technology Park, Pencoed, 
Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan, CF35 5HZ

 A shares

 B shares

 C shares

 Ordinary shares

 Deferred shares

Silicon Microgravity Limited:

Clarendon House, Clarendon Road, Cambridge, CB2 8FH

 A Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

 Seed Preferred shares

Spinetic Energy Limited

The Old Post Office, 41-43 Market Place, Chippenham, Wiltshire, 
England, SN15 3HR

Structure Vision Limited

103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9DF

Sub Salt Solutions Limited:

52 Princes Gate, London, SW7 2PG

 A Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Surrey NanoSystems Limited:

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, England, EC4N 8AF

 A Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Therapeutic Frontiers Limited Gowran House 56 Broad Street, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol,  

BS37 6AG

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

26.4%

52.4%

0.0%

38.5%

0.0%

35.0%

35.9%

62.6%

57.4%

0.7%

100.0%

56.9%

0.0%

31.8%

0.0%

0.0%

71.9%

30.4%

42.5%

38.0%

100.0%

43.7%

21.6%

17.4%

35.4%

25.8%

Held by 
Parent/
Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Thisway Global Limited:

2nd Floor, Platinum Building St John's Innovation Park, Cowley 
Road, Cambridge, England, CB4 0DS

21.5%

Group

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

 Series A shares

Topivert Limited:

 A Preference shares

 Growth shares

 Ordinary shares

Ubiquigent Limited

265 Strand, London, WC2R 1BH

Dundee University Incubator Dundee Technopole, James Lindsay 
Place, Dundee, DD1 5JJ

0.0%

0.0%

57.2%

29.5%

34.0%

0.0%

50.0%

54.5%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

181

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.comNotes to the company financial statements  
CONTINUED 

10. Details of significant holdings and associated undertakings continued

Name of undertaking

Registered address

Ultrahaptics Holdings Ltd:

The West Wing, Glass Wharf, Bristol, BS2 0EL

 B Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

 Preference shares

Ultramatis Limited

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2

Uniformity Labs, Inc.

41400 Christy Street, Fremont, CA 94538, USA

Uniphy Limited

Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, 
LS2 9DF

Proportion 
of nominal 
value held

%(i)

Held by 
Parent/
Group

37.9%

0.0%

47.3%

30.4%

30.0%

25.1%

39.1%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Veryan Holdings Limited:

9400 Garsington Road Oxford Business Park, Oxford, Oxfordshire, 
OX4 2HN

46.8%

Group

 A Ordinary shares

 B Ordinary shares

 C Ordinary shares

 Deferred shares

 M Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Wave Optics:

 A Ordinary shares

 B Ordinary shares

 B1 Ordinary shares

 Ordinary shares

Wave Optics Ltd, Milton Park Innovation Cente 99 Park Drive, 
Milton Park, Milton, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, OX14 4RY

Yoyo Wallet Limited:

78 2nd Floor, Whitfield Street, London, England, W1T 4EZ

 Ordinary shares

 Series 1 seed

 Series 2 seed

 Series A

 Series B

Zeetta Networks Limited

The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London, United Kingdom, 
EC4N 8AF

Zoompast Limited:

 Ordinary shares

 Preference shares

52 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, England, 
SW7 2PG

58.2%

49.4%

54.6%

12.5%

0.0%

18.1%

23.8%

0.0%

37.5%

25.9%

0.0%

44.1%

13.1%

31.9%

79.6%

83.8%

33.3%

26.6%

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

Group

31.3%

Group

12.3%

33.9%

Group

Group

i  All holdings are via Ordinary Shares unless separate classes are specified in the table.

ii  A fund in which the Group is a limited partner. Proportion of nominal value stated is equivalent to capital contributed to the partnership in 

question.

All companies above are incorporated in the United Kingdom with the exception of Aptatek Biosciences, 
Inc., Chip Diagnostics, Inc, Cynash, Inc., Enachip, Inc., Exyn Technologies, Inc., Instrumems, Inc., Lorem 
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lumiode, Inc and Uniformity Labs, Inc. which were incorporated in Delaware, USA. The 
significant influence noted above has been determined in line with IAS 28 and Schedule 4 of The Large and 
Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. 

182

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017Company information

Company registration number

04204490

Registered office

Directors

The Walbrook Building
25 Walbrook
London
EC4N 8AF

Mike Humphrey (Non-executive Chairman)
Alan John Aubrey (Chief Executive Officer)
Michael Charles Nettleton Townend (Chief Investment Officer)
Gregory Simon Smith (Chief Financial Officer)
David Baynes (Chief Operating Officer)

Jonathan Brooks (Non-executive Director)
Professor Lynn Gladden CBE (Non-executive Director)
Dr Elaine Sullivan (Non-executive Director) 
Professor David Knox Houston Begg (Senior Independent Director)

Company secretary

Angela Leach

Brokers

Registrars

Bankers

Solicitors

Independent auditor

Numis Securities Limited
The London Stock Exchange Building
10 Paternoster Square 
London
EC4M 7LT

Link Asset Services
6th Floor 
65 Gresham Street 
London 
EC2V 7NQ

Royal Bank of Scotland
PO Box 333
Silbury House
300 Silbury Boulevard
Milton Keynes 
MK9 2ZF

Pinsent Masons LLP
30 Crown Place
Earl Street
London
EC2A 4ES

KPMG LLP
15 Canada Square
London
E14 5GL

Stock Code: IPO   www.ipgroupplc.com

IBC

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

IP Group plc 
Top Floor,
The Walbrook Building,
25 Walbrook,
London, EC4N 8AF

T +44 (0)20 7444 0050
F +44 (0)20 7929 6415

www.ipgroupplc.com

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25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine

25829-04      10 May 2018 3:41 PM   Proof Nine