IP Group plots sale of tech stake portfolio to Lexham

An investment vehicle founded by one of Britain's most prominent venture capitalists is in advanced talks to buy a portfolio of stakes in some of the country's most promising technology companies.

Sky News has learnt that Lexham Partners, which was established this year by Dominic Perks, is close to agreeing a deal to acquire shareholdings in companies including Paragraf, the graphene-based electronic device company, and Nexeon, a battery technology specialist, from London-listed IP Group.

A person close to IP Group said a transaction could be agreed as soon as this week.

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Lexham would acquire part of IP Group's stakes in about ten companies, although IP would retain part of its existing shareholdings, the person added.

Among the other companies included in the deal is said to be Istesso, which Mr Perks came close to taking public through a special purpose acquisition company in 2022.

A sale would generate cash for IP Group, which has endured a period of difficult performance only partly offset by a number of substantial realisations.

These included Featurespace, the company backed by Mike Lynch, the late technology pioneer who died in the summer in a boating accident off the coast of Italy.

Featurespace was sold during the autumn to Visa, the American payments giant, for more than £700m.

That yielded a total cash payout to IP Group of more than £130m.

IP Group's portfolio also includes stakes in companies such as First Light, a nuclear fusion specialist, and Oxford Nanopore, the London-listed DNA sequencing group.

The value of the deal between IP Group and Lexham was unclear on Tuesday.

Lexham was founded by Mr Perks in the wake of his departure from Hambro Perks, which he established with Rupert Hambro, the financier.

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He has already agreed deals to buy stakes in companies including Atom Bank, the digital lender, and is raising a number of fund vehicles to invest in different areas of technology.

Shares in IP Group were trading at about 45.5p on Tuesday afternoon, giving the company a market capitalisation of just under £450m.

IP Group and Lexham have both been contacted for comment.