IP Group - Record exit underpinning the NAV

IP Group’s realisation activity has picked up notably in the months leading up to the company’s interim results publication in September, encouraging the company to increase the current buyback programme by £10m to £30m. Subsequently, IP Group agreed to sell the AI-powered financial crime detection business Featurespace to Visa. The exit will result in £134m in realisation proceeds at a 70% uplift to end-2023 carrying value, part of which was recognised in the H124 results, translating in a broadly stable value of IP Group’s private holdings. The de-rating of listed Oxford Nanopore (ONT) was therefore the major driver behind IP Group’s 9% NAV fall in total return (TR) terms in H124 to 104.7p, though nearly half of the ONT share price fall was reversed post end-June 2024, assisted by its half-year trading update and the Novo Holdings investment.