IP2IPO plots VCT launch

One of AIM's most successful companies is planning to launch a venture capital trust (VCT) to take advantage of the enhanced tax breaks.

One of AIM’s most successful companies is planning to launch a venture capital trust (VCT) to take advantage of the enhanced tax breaks these specialist investment vehicles receive.

IP2IPO, an ambitious technology-transfer endeavour run by former Beeson Gregory financier David Norwood, is considering an offer to raise £20 million for a proposed VCT called UniVen. This will be managed by Top Technology, a venture capital manager founded 18 years ago by Harry Fitzgibbons and acquired by IP2IPO this summer for £2.4 million.

If it goes ahead, this trust should prove popular, as IP2IPO has seen its shares surge more than 140 per cent to 665p since joining AIM a year ago. This values the company, which has agreements with various university departments, including Oxford and King’s College London, to invest in their technology, at £271 million.

That compares with a net asset value of £62.7 million at the end of June, made up of £37.3 million in cash and stakes in 18 companies. Significant holdings include recent AIM floats oil services group Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping, chemical genomics concern Vastox and Synairgen, a researcher into the causes of asthma.

Leslie Copeland

Leslie Copeland

Leslie was made Editor for Growth Company Investor magazine in 2000, then headed up the launch of Business XL magazine, and then became Editorial Director in 2007 for the online and print publication portfolio...

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