IP Group plc - Portfolio company RFC Power signs Joint Development Agreement with Ceres Power

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, is pleased to announce that RFC Power Ltd ("RFC Power" or "the Company"), a long-duration energy storage company, has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Ceres Power Holdings plc ("Ceres"), a global leader in fuel cell and electrochemical technology.

The joint development agreement will aim to improve and accelerate RFC Power's technology through the use of Ceres' expertise in electrochemistry and device engineering. Mark Selby, Chief Innovation Officer at Ceres, will join RFC Power's board.

RFC Power, a spin-out from Imperial College London, aims to develop the world's lowest cost flow battery - a hybrid between a fuel cell and a battery that decouples power from energy. Its patented hydrogen manganese chemistry has the potential to deliver low cost and high round-trip efficiency with an extremely long cycle-life. IP Group has a fully diluted holding of 33.2% in RFC Power.

Ceres is a world-leading developer of electrochemical technologies which has recently joined the Long Duration Energy Storage Council (https://www.ldescouncil.com/), a CEO-led organisation which is targeting ~10% of all energy being stored in greater than eight-hour storage technologies, requiring 85-140TWh of deployed capacity, in order to achieve grid net-zero by 2040.

Tim von Werne, CEO of RFC Power, said: "Energy storage is a critical component of the transition to a low carbon energy system. This partnership with Ceres Power will accelerate RFC's technology development and enable us to bring our long duration energy storage technology to market at the pace required to meet this global demand. We are delighted to welcome Mark Selby to our Board as we start this next phase of our commercial progress."

Andrew Symes, Investment Manager at IP Group plc, said: "Our mission is to identify the technologies which plug gaps in the transition to net zero and build them into scalable businesses. Long duration storage is one of those gaps and having identified RFC's distinctive hydrogen manganese system in 2018, we are delighted to see the progress with the Ceres collaboration announced today."

In exchange for the work done under the agreement, Ceres will receive an 8.4% shareholding in RFC Power. Ceres has the opportunity to assess RFC Power's technology in this period and if the technology proves compatible to Ceres' strategy, Ceres has a 12-month option to acquire the balance of the issued share capital in the company for up to £25 million.

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About IP Group

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. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.

Group holdings in portfolio companies reflect the undiluted beneficial equity interest excluding debt, unless otherwise explicitly stated.

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About RFC Power www.rfcpower.com

RFC Power specialises in developing novel flow battery chemistries for energy storage systems. The core activities of RFC Power are the chemistry, cell architecture and the optimisation of flow battery stack components.  RFC Power is working with partners to build and market its storage systems making use of existing production facilities, supplier networks and economies of scale. The company was spun out from Imperial College's Departments of Engineering and Chemistry by the institution's innovation arm in 2017.

ENDS