IP Group, a major backer of university spin-outs in the UK, has recorded a pretax profit of £72.6m in 2013 – a 78% increase from its 2012 total of £40.7m – boosted by strong returns from its portfolio.
The commercialisation firm’s portfolio made net gains of £83m during 2013 (compared to £50.2m in 2012), with only a slight rise in admin costs, up £500,000 from last year to £13.2m.
It has been an active year for IP Group. Alan Aubrey, CEO of IP Group, said: “2013 was a record year with the strongest financial performance since the group was formed in 2001. There was also significant strategic progress with a commercialisation agreement with the University of Manchester, an investment in Cambridge Innovation Capital, as well as pilot agreements with two of the US’s eight Ivy League universities.”
The company looks to be in good stead moving into 2014. Portfolio company Actual Experience, a Queen Mary University of London life sciences spin-out, has been admitted to London’s AIM, while Xeros, another portfolio firm spun-out of Leeds, announced its intention to float last week.
The company also recently announced a £87.8m deal to acquire the remaining 79.9% of Fusion IP, a tech transfer unit with commercialisation agreements with multiple UK universities.
