Ip Share Discussion Threads

[bamboo2] 14/2/2022 07:07

FOR RELEASE ON 14 February 2022

IP Group plc - Portfolio company Bramble raises GBP35 million

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, is pleased to announce that portfolio company Bramble Energy Ltd ("Bramble" or "the Company"), a London-based fuel cell company, has completed a GBP35 million Series B investment round to help further expand its capabilities in solving key challenges in the production and implementation of hydrogen fuel cell stacks .

IP Group committed approximately GBP10 million to the round. Following completion, IP Group has an undiluted beneficial holding of 32.3 % in Bramble, valued at GBP20.7m, representing a net unrealised fair value gain to the Group of approximately GBP6.6m.

Bramble, which was founded by Dr. Tom Mason in the research labs at Imperial College of London and University College of London, has developed a unique, patent protected, printed circuit board (PCB) fuel cell - the PCBFC(TM). The innovation is that the PCBFC(TM) utilises existing and cost-effective production methods and materials from the well-established PCB industry, reducing cost and complexity in manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells.

The funds raised will enable Bramble to roll out its portable power products globally as well as continue to develop its liquid cooled fuel cell stack capability. Through this phase Bramble will deploy its disruptive fuel cell stack technology in a variety of strategic commercial applications to enable decarbonisation across a number of industries and sectors.

Jamie Vollbracht, Partner, Cleantech at IP Group plc, said: "Hydrogen, through its green production from electrolysis or its use in fuel cells to provide clean power, is critical for the transition to net zero. Bramble Energy brings a fundamentally different approach to these technologies, unlocking the deployment of hydrogen faster, more flexibly and at scale. We are delighted to contribute substantially to this significant funding round which will take Bramble to the next stage."

The round was led by HydrogenOne Capital Growth plc and supported by existing shareholders including IP Group as well as funds managed by its subsidiary Parkwalk Advisors, BGF and the UCL Technology Fund.

[brucie5] 10/2/2022 09:45

Thanks bamboo2. Maybe the retrace is over done here... I have been on the sidelines for some time, but surprised to see how poorly it's performed since ONT ipo. Given the mix of holdings and opacity, a discount will always be likely, but what size of discount fairly reflects the risk. I can't see this ever going under, so largest hazard is in its going nowhere. SO what catalysts to appreciation and narrowing of discount do you and others see?

[orange1] 10/2/2022 07:59

Fusion news:

JET grabs the headlines and Fist Light Fusion gets a mention:

[bamboo2] 08/2/2022 21:44

Hi Bruce, Rolling NAV 150-155
[I have allowed some latitude for the approx 3% of the co recently bought back at average 118]

There was a co update early Jan.
Results in early March, the precise date normally rns'ed in advance.

[brucie5] 08/2/2022 21:16

Hi guys, what is your latest NAV calculation, since 1.35 in the header, please?

[p1nkfish] 31/1/2022 15:06

Frustrated. Holding. My BS filter is annoyed, just look at the past 5 years whilst money is loose and they had Ox Nano. Will they have such following winds to help them in the next 5 years but they will need 100%+ just to get back to where they would be if they stood still since 2016/7.

[dennisbergkamp] 31/1/2022 14:14

p1nk,

So you're out and looking to get back in at a lower price? or just frustrated?

D

[p1nkfish] 31/1/2022 11:02

I'm not much good at trading but looking at the monthly MACD this was a no brainer for the past few cycles - in at the right time, out when going against the holder. Wouldn't blame anyone doing that looking at the past performance.

[p1nkfish] 31/1/2022 10:52

I hope management "get it".

There has been no good reason to allocate long term capital here. Nothing in it for those people, only for traders.

That is not an indicator of success.

[p1nkfish] 31/1/2022 10:28

Meanwhile, even MERC has done better over 5 years (although down) and GROW took IP to the cleaners. Why allocate capital here unless it gets to be really cheap - accounting for the current poor price imho.

[bamboo2] 31/1/2022 09:42

IPGroup results normally early March, ONT also report.
Locked up ONT shareholders released end of March. [28th?]
Think we will see Acacia and Supp exit [together holding just under 7%] quite quickly.
Majority of other holders appear as longer term holds to me.

[orange1] 31/1/2022 09:04

The seller took advantage of the buy back program I suspect and took the view that their average sell price selling into this program would be higher than selling their bloc of shares in one go. I am not sure the company's program would allow them to boy a huge bloc in one go.

[bamboo2] 31/1/2022 08:43

p1nk, 'what's been going on?' You know my theory, after Woodford/Invesco/Lansdowne redemption based forced selling, we ended up with a large quantity of shares needing a home, and it is these that have been arriving on the market over the past 4-5months.

What I can't quite understand is, and this seems to occur with other shares, if you had a large number of shares to sell, why would you choose to do it it in dribs and drabs into a falling market? Wouldn't you want to get the best price possible by getting them sold in one lot? Today's AT trades are full of small two and three figure lots.

[bamboo2] 31/1/2022 08:35

Buyback Programme

Date of purchase: 28-Jan-22
Number of ordinary shares purchased: 500,745
Highest price paid per ordinary share (GBp): 95.80
Lowest price paid per ordinary share (GBp): 93.00
Volume weighted average price paid per ordinary
share (GBp): 94.4331

The Group will hold the Repurchased Shares in treasury. Following the above transaction, the Group holds 29,708,621 of its ordinary shares in treasury...

[p1nkfish] 30/1/2022 21:54

Can't disagree with that general assesment other than to say it is financially stronger now than in the past. They can extend the buyback and news to that end would be no surprise, they can go to about 106M in total.

I have no doubt they have plans.

The next few days will be interesting.

[podgyted] 30/1/2022 20:41

There's plenty here for the market to worry about here:-

Overdependence on 1 investment which has, according to my figures, wiped £200m off their NAV since 31/12/21. Also with the handcuffs coming off in March.

Correction on the NASDAQ - relevant to valuations in IP's area.

General worries about market corrections.

New top team who haven't spelt out their plan - and seem to be quite happy to allow a buyback program to end which was removing shares at way less than NAV rather than increasing the amount - at a time when they've got LOADS of cash and seemingly no spending (or should I say investment) plans.

Etc

You have to decide whether your risk appetite for the above is captured in the current discount to NAV.

Personally I'm not sure enough - on the side-lines for now.

[p1nkfish] 30/1/2022 10:44

What theories do others have as to what has been going on?

[p1nkfish] 30/1/2022 10:42

I have no idea if we are entering into or out of some optimum time for ipo's.

If IP hold their stake long enough post ipo it will matter less as the holding finds the true market value over time but it's not as easy to predict valuation impacts as it first appears.

What I think I do know is that IPO is worth a decent % more than the current share price All last year of share price increase now wiped out but financially stronger than ever and little sign of future weakness.

Some market entities have been messing about to our detriment.

[wba1] 30/1/2022 09:31

I am surprised that there does not seem to be any proposal for Featurespace to go to IPO. IP hold near 20% and the (whole) company was valued at circa £200m in 2020 (see It is a fairly mature company with established products and major clients (many leading banks and payment systems), and room for continuing growth. I would expect an IPO to be at a substantially higher value than that currently reflected in the IP NAV.

[bamboo2] 30/1/2022 09:11

For info, Hinge Health is supposed to IPO later this year. That could realise £80-100m in cash and NAV. I also noted, from a presentation slide last year, three milestone payments due from past deals, plus RFC power could achieve £25m.

[p1nkfish] 29/1/2022 20:05

Deep tech start-ups addressing a real need/problem should be OK, totally agree about the clever app brigade and there's also the lifestyle choice start-ups that will find it tougher.

Some leadership wouldn't go amiss right now, where is it?

What we don't need is someone crowing about past succeses but rather giving a very clear picture of where from here. There should be more than enough opportunities to allocate cash. The world hasn't run out of problems for nascient deep tech to solve.

[wetpantz] 29/1/2022 19:39

I also think that portfolio exits will hold up. Interest rates are still low and likely to remain low in absolute terms. There’s still oodles of dry powder out there waiting to be deployed from PE or large corporations who will still pay up for genuinely valuable IP. Spotty uni drop outs with a clever app may find life a bit tougher tho.