IP Group (IPO) shares ticked up 3.30% to 125.5p as Oxford Nanopore prepares for IPO
The developer of intellectual property-based firms unveiled on Tuesday that its portfolio company Oxford Nanopore Technologies has started to prepare for a potential IPO.
Whilst the timing of a potential IPO is dependent on market conditions, it said it currently expects the IPO to occur in the second half of the year on the London Stock Exchange.
IP Group currently holds a direct stake of 15% valued at £340 million in Oxford Nanopore, which has developed the world's first and only nanopore DNA and RNA sequencing platform
IP Group formally values its 15% stake at £340m, implying £2.3bn for the whole company, but that may be conservative, the Guardian wrote on Tuesday. It said Jefferies analysts predict £4bn based on comparisons with listed US rivals ‘while others go even higher.’
88 Energy (88E) shares soared 45.54% to 4.075p as it satisfies final condition for Umiat
Shares in the Alaskan-focused explorer soared after it told investors that the final condition related to the group’s acquisition of the Umiat Oil Field ("Umiat") has now been completed.
Cement work associated with plugging and abandoning of two historical wells at the field will be executed while remedial site work will now be finalised ‘in the near term,’ it said.
The Umiat oil field is an historic oil discovery, made in 1945 in shallow Brookian (Nanushuk) sandstones, located immediately adjacent to the southern boundary of Project Peregrine.
Commenting on today’s news Wall said, "The acquisition of the proven oil field at Umiat is a significant milestone for the Company and its shareholders, particularly in the context of any discovery made at Project Peregrine, where wireline logging is currently underway."
Ironveld (IRON) shares rose 15.93% to 0.655p as it makes ‘material progress’ on transaction
The Group, which is focused on its High Purity Iron project in South Africa, released its half-year results for the six months ended 31 December 2020 yesterday in which it stated that it was unable to conclude the envisaged transaction with Inclusive Investment Group (IIG).
"The six months to December 2020 ultimately proved frustrating and despite best efforts, we were unable to conclude the envisaged transaction with IIG,” said CEO, Martin Eales.
Eales also told investors that Ironveld has made material progress “on a possible alternative transaction” in the early part of this year, which we hope to conclude in the coming weeks.
The Company detailed that it is at ‘an advanced stage’ in talks with an investor seeking to take a substantial strategic equity stake at the listed company level at a premium to the current share price in order to assist the Group with the next stage of its development.
Whilst there are no guarantees that the transaction will be completed or by when, Ironveld ‘are hopeful of being able to conclude a meaningful transaction in the coming weeks.’
Ironveld said it remains confident that its asset, containing 27m tons of HPI, together with significant Vanadium and Titanium content, demonstrates robust economics and has a potential value in excess of its market capitalisation and balance sheet carrying value.
UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) shares jumped 14.89% to 0.135p as receives extension from AIM regulation
The Group released a statement in which it informed investors that it will be unable to meet its publication deadline for its annual audited accounts the year to 30 September 2020.
UKOG said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unable to reach its original deadline of 31 March 2021 and that, following a request for an additional period of up to three months to publish its annual audited results, AIM Regulation has now granted this extension.
UKOG expects to publish its annual audited accounts for the period by 30 April 2021.
Cineworld (CINE) shares fall again by 2.32% ahead of its reopening of sites
Shares in the cinema group fell again today after seeing light relief in recent days. Despite the fall, the stock has increased by around 60% in value since the start of 2021. The group recently said that it is to re-open its cinemas in most markets over the next few months.
Last week, the company informed investors that it had received a further $213m in addition to US tax refund of US$200m in order to see the company through the re-opening period.
However, the impact of the pandemic was reflected through the company’s recent final results in which the group posted losses of over $3bn while revenues tumbled to $852m.
Looking forward, the group has described its outlook as 'more positive', with restrictions expected to ease in light of the vaccination programmes underway across its territories.
“We believe that we can return to previous performance levels should the situation normalise, given that consumer demand remains strong - our guests want to go out and socialise, and we are confident they will do so as soon as they are permitted,” it noted.