Revolymer – Divestment of nicotine gum business
Further to the announcement published on 20 June 2016, Revolymer (AIM: REVO) announces that, on 16 September 2016, it executed agreements committing it to divest its nicotine gum business to the Danish company Alkalon A/S (“Alkalon”), with completion subject only to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions precedent including the transfer of key customer contracts and the Canadian product licence to Alkalon.
Alkalon has EU regulatory approval for its products and an established European customer base, which complements Revolymer’s Canadian customer base. The business combination offers the potential to grow the combined business in its existing territories as well as to expand in additional territories, benefiting from economies of scale in manufacturing and marketing. At completion, the consideration to Revolymer for the divestment of this business will be a 15% equity holding in the combined new business, which may increase to 20% if certain commercial milestones in the acquired Revolymer nicotine gum business are met in within nine months of completion, namely the award of additional specific contracts in Canada. The consideration is valued at DKK8.2m, equivalent to £0.9m, and Revolymer currently expects to hold the investment in Alkalon for the medium to long term. At completion, Revolymer will have the right to appoint a director to the board of the combined business, that will continue under the Alkalon name.
In addition to the Revolymer customer contracts and Canadian product licence (which constitute goodwill), additional assets to be transferred to Alkalon at completion include stocks of finished goods (i.e. nicotine gum to be sold in Canada), work in progress and raw materials; and certain fixed assets used in the nicotine gum business and no longer required by Revolymer. The value of these assets, excluding goodwill, was £0.5m as at 31 December 2015 (unaudited). For the year ended 31 December 2015, the segment loss attributable to the assets to be transferred to Alkalon was £1.0m, unaudited.
Kevin Matthews, Chief Executive Officer, said: “This transaction marks further progress in the execution of Revolymer’s strategy, focusing its business on becoming a leader in functional polymers that manage the interface between different surfaces and phases to improve the safety, performance or sustainability of its customers’ products. Such functional benefits include the delivery and controlled release of actives, surface modification, and water quality improvement, and the target markets are Homecare & Industrial and Personal Care & Consumer Healthcare. We therefore believe that the transaction will have a positive commercial impact on Revolymer’s business.”
OxfordPV – Parkwalk closes further funding round
We are pleased to announce that Parkwalk has made a further investment in OxfordPV through a the Opportunities EIS Fund.
Oxford Photovoltaics is an Oxford-based technology business, founded in 2010, formed on technology originally developed in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford under Professor Henry Snaith and his academic team of 20 scientists.
Professor Snaith is leading an intensive and wide-ranging programme to develop a thin-film solar cell using a perovskite-structure to enhance solar absorption and conversion. The programme is advancing rapidly with enhanced cell efficiency.
Oxford PV envisages the technology being utilised to enhance the performance of silicon-based solar cells by adding a perovskite layer on top of the silicon to create a tandem cell structure. This is expected to add up to 5% to the efficiency of a 20% silicon cells, taking their performance towards 25%. Future generations of the product will include perovskite-on-perovskite cells, where performance could reach 30%.
Microsaic Systems – Parkwalk Opportunities Fund closes follow on investment
We are delighted to have participated in a placing for Microsaic Systems:
12 September 2016
On 26 August 2016, Microsaic Systems plc (AIM: MSYS), the developer of chip-based mass spectrometry instruments, announced a proposed Placing to raise up to £5.4 million (before expenses) through the issue of up to 108,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.25p each (“New Ordinary Shares”) at an issue price of 5 pence per New Ordinary Share.
The Company is pleased to announce that, at its General Meeting held earlier today, the Resolution put to shareholders to authorise the directors of the Company to allot the New Ordinary Shares in connection with the proposed Placing was duly passed.
Further to this, the Company can now confirm that it will issue, pursuant to the Placing, 108,000,000 New Ordinary Shares at 5 pence per share, raising £5.4 million (before expenses). Application has been made for the 108,000,000 New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it is expected that Admission will become effective and trading will commence in the New Ordinary Shares at 8.00 a.m. on 13 September 2016. Following Admission the Company’s issued share capital will comprise 181,365,146 Ordinary Shares. From Admission, the figure of 181,365,146 may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Colin Nicholl, Chairman of Microsaic, said:
”We are grateful to our existing shareholders as well as new investors for supporting this issue. The funds raised will provide the Company with the resources to develop our existing partnerships, secure additional relationships, and to increase the spread of applications that are addressed. This in turn will allow the business to grow in a profitable way.”
Arvia Technologies – WEFTEC Innovative Technology Award
Arvia Technology will receive the prestigious Innovative Technology Award from the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international not-for-profit technical and educational water quality organisation. The award will be presented during a ceremony at WEFTEC 2016, the organisation’s 89th Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference this fall in New Orleans, La.
The Innovative Technology Award recognises Arvia’s patented Organics Destruction Cell (ODC™) system for the removal of recalcitrant organics, as a notable technological innovation. The simple and modular ODC system was selected for its effectiveness in treating organic water pollutants that cannot be removed via existing technologies, and its original combination of two well-known treatment methods – adsorption and advanced oxidation – to produce a unique, environmentally sustainable solution. Arvia’s unique proprietary adsorbent, Nyex, regenerates in situ, providing for continuous treatment without secondary waste. The Arvia ODC reduces the common measure of water pollution, known as COD or Chemical Oxygen Demand, and removes micro-pollutants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals and contaminants of emerging concern from water and waste-water, to enable water recycling or safe discharge back to the environment.
Arvia Technology will be honored during WEFTEC® 2016, the world’s largest annual water quality conference and exhibition. The event is expected to host thousands of global water quality experts and exhibiting companies at New Orleans Morial Convention Center from September 24-28, 2016.
For more information about WEF awards, please click here.
Healthera – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund III investment
We are delighted to announce that the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund III has invested in Healthera Ltd, a provider of next-generation, pharmacy-integrated personal health management solutions, has secured seed investment from the University of Cambridge, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund III, FT Capital and high net worth individuals. The specific amounts are undisclosed.
This round of institutional funding allows Healthera to complete its product development on the next generation of pharmacy IT solutions and personal health management app, and it has financed its pre-launch testing of product-market fit.
Healthera’s products:
- Seamlessly transfer and interpret complex medical instructions to patients
- Empower the pharmacy industry with digital technology, helping it cut costs and develop multiple additional revenue streams, despite the recent government austerity
- Truly enable patients to participate in managing their own medication and to supply their health care providers with real-world analytics
In January 2016, Healthera became the first pharmacy-integrated medication-application available on the Apple app store.
Brainomix – Parkwalk closes follow-on investment
We have recently closed an investment in Brainomix for the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund VII and the Opportunities Fund.
Brainomix is aiming to improve stroke treatment dramatically by developing software that gives all hospitals and clinics access to reliable diagnoses for their patients.
Brainomix’s ground-breaking technology, e-ASPECTS is a clinical decision support tool that automatically implements the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) clinical scoring methodology, to assist clinicians in timely identification of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for life-saving treatment and thereby dramatically improve stroke treatment.
Strokes are the third highest cause of death and the primary cause of disability worldwide and yet, even in the Europe and the US, up to half of the patients who should be treated for stroke are not, because of difficulty in reading CT scan images accurately.
Brainomix Co-founder Professor Alastair Buchan is the inventor of the ASPECTS system which is the most reliable method to diagnose stroke for treatment that improves patient outcomes. However, in practice the ASPECTS accuracy is often impaired by human subjectivity and its utility is severely limited by a lack of expert clinicians.
Brainomix e-ASPECTS software is the first system to provide automated and standardised analysis of CT brain scans for stroke damage, assessing patients’ suitability for life saving treatment. It has strong potential to become an indispensable tool in stroke care and generate substantial health economic benefits.
The company’s website can be viewed here.
PervasID – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV investment
We are delighted to announce that the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV, managed by Parkwalk, has invested in PervasID, a spin-out from the Department of Engineering.
The company has developed a long-range passive Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking technology which substantially outperforms current passive RFID technologies. Crucially, it allows low-cost commodity RFID tags to be utilised in long range applications achieving accuracy until now only achievable using more expensive active RFID.
Micrima – University of Bristol Enterprise Fund I investment
We are delighted to announce that the University of Bristol Enterprise Fund I, managed by Parkwalk, has invested in Micrima.
The company intends to develop and commercialise a new Breast Imaging System (MARIA) aimed at radically improving breast cancer detection and survival rates through the provision of much safer, more frequent, more comfortable and less expensive breast checks from a much younger age, and delivered within the local community. The company’s proprietary technology seeks to improve screening effectiveness for both younger and older women with dense breast tissue, where X-ray mammography (XRM) is widely acknowledged to be inadequate.
Salunda – Parkwalk follow-on Investment
We have recently closed an investment in Salunda for the Parkwalk Opportunities Fund.
Salunda develops robust, contactless sensors for use in very harsh environments. The company’s sensor technology detects position and speed, and measures the composition of fluids.
Salunda has developed patented, contactless sensor technology for monitoring machinery in very harsh environments. Sensors scan components such as pistons, rotors and seals for wear and failure. A profile of the component surface can be recorded with sensitivities of as little as tens of microns. Sensors can warn of imminent failure by detecting cracks, eccentric motion, ‘orbiting’, axial shift or vibration.
The oil industry requires accurate, repeatable measurement of the separation of water, oil and gas. Salunda is developing reliable, inline sensors that measure the water content of crude oil, contamination and actual fluid level in the presence of bubbles and froth. OEM components based on patented technologies are available for open-bore water cut and multiphase flow application.
YASA Motors – P400 Series with Lightweight Gearbox
Integrated Lightweight Electric Vehicle Transmissions
Application example:
YASA P400 Series Motors with lightweight gearboxes.
Xtrac, a leader in the design and manufacture of vehicle transmissions, has a family of highly configurable gearboxes available that address the growing market requirement for single speed, lightweight and power dense electric vehicle (EV) transmissions. Driven by YASA P400 Series motors, the Xtrac P1227 Integrated Lightweight Electric Vehicle (ILEV) transmissions provide up to 3900 Nm and 320kW peak at the wheels from just 95kg for gearbox and two motors combined in a full torque vectoring configuration.
This family of transmissions can be configured into one of the three arrangements shown below.
Fluidic Analytics – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV and Parkwalk investment
Parkwalk have recently closed an investment in Fluidic Analytics for the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV and Parkwalk Funds.
Fluidic Analytics is developing a line of tools for the rapid, accurate, cost-effective analysis of proteins and other biomolecular species. By combining a powerful microfluidics platform developed at the University of Cambridge with efficient manufacturing and design principles, the Company is striving to be a leading provider of products that enable breakthrough advances in fundamental protein science, drug development and diagnostics.
By developing products that make protein characterisation faster, more precise, more convenient, more cost-effective and more accurate, Fluidic Analytics is striving to help scientists, healthcare providers and people everywhere to understand the world around them better.
More detail can be seen on the company’s website here.
PsyOmics – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV investment
We are delighted to announce that the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV, managed by Parkwalk, has invested in PsyOmics, a spin-out from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.
The company aims to utilise blood-based diagnostics to increase the speed of diagnosis and to reduce misdiagnosis for mental health patients.
Mental illness accounts for over 15% of the disease burden in developed countries and in England alone, mental illness costs over £51.6bn per annum.
8Power – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund III investment
We have recently made an investment in 8Power for the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund III in a financing round.
8power Limited, a new company spun out of the University of Cambridge to develop and commercialise novel technology for sensing and measurement in industrial applications, has received initial funding of approximately £700,000 from IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the University of Cambridge and the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund III, managed by Parkwalk Advisors.
The University of Cambridge is a world leader in the science and technology of sensing, and is pioneering the research of new sensor technologies applied to condition monitoring of built infrastructure and machinery through the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction and a number of other research groups. A system that can monitor its own condition automatically can be cheaper to build, for example by using less material, or easier to maintain, for example by scheduling servicing when needed rather than on a regular timetable.
While techniques to connect and monitor large numbers of devices (often termed the Internet of Things, IoT) are starting to mature, 8power’s technologies bring unique benefits, as they provide ways to power sensors from ambient vibration, and permit the creation of new types of sensors with dramatically lower power consumption than before. The company’s products and services are applicable to a number of markets, including automotive and transportation, civil engineering, industrial equipment, and utility infrastructure.
The core technologies that the company has licensed from Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge, were developed by a team led by Dr Ashwin Seshia at the University’s Department of Engineering. Dr Seshia, who recently co-founded Silicon Microgravity, will head the company’s advisory board, joined by three other academic founders from this team, Dr Yu Jia, Lecturer at the University of Chester, Dr Jize Yan, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, and Prof. Kenichi Soga, Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The company will shortly announce that it has appointed a leading expert in wireless communications and IoT as CEO.
Dr Ashwin Seshia, co-founder of 8power, said “8power combines a number of unique world-leading technologies in energy harvesting and microelectromechanical systems to provide the basis for new energy autonomous sensor systems that can address a range of application scenarios. We are excited by the opportunity to accelerate technology translation via 8power and look forward to working together with our partners to further develop and deploy these technologies as widely as possible.”
Oxford University Innovation – the new name for Isis Innovation
Isis Innovation will be renamed Oxford University Innovation, in order to enhance the already strong links between Isis Innovation and the University. This will strengthen awareness of the company and its services within the wider University, and better portray the University’s ownership of the company.
With a record 16 spinout companies launched and more than 450 academic consultancy contracts signed in the last 12 months, innovation activity in Oxford University is successful, growing, and making a significant contribution to the local economy. Professor Ian Walmsley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the University of Oxford, added his voice to the recent Oxfordshire Green Paper2 concerning the future of the region, saying: “We are very pleased that the key regional leaders have joined to frame a vision for the future of Oxfordshire that brings together their aspirations for economic growth with improved quality of life and how innovation can contribute to achieving this vision.”
Support for enterprise and innovation is at the heart of the University’s Strategic Plan3. The Oxford University Innovation Working Group4 recognised the vital role of Isis Innovation in technology transfer as a key service to Divisions, and made recommendations to establish still firmer connections. Various practical steps have already been taken to meet this objective, including establishing regular staffing at hotdesks in University departments. The new company name and branding – being introduced later this month – will further reinforce this.
An additional, secondary, consideration was the similarity of the current name to so-called Islamic State, which caused occasional business issues such as emails being blocked. However, the overriding reason for change – clearer definition of the link to the University – was compelling in its own right, and received unanimous support in our consultation process.
Managing Director of Isis Innovation, Linda Naylor, said, “Commercialising University research and expertise is important to enable wider society to benefit from the work of our world-leading academics. By changing our name to Oxford University Innovation the breadth of support from the University for entrepreneurial researchers will be more visible. We will also benefit from the global brand recognition of the University, allowing us to attract more clients and investors for the Intellectual Property-based technologies and for the many services that we provide to increase engagement with researchers. More successful engagements will contribute to greater impact from researchers’ work as well as greater financial returns to the University and individual researchers.”
Parkwalk, the EIS and Brexit
In these uncertain times post the surprise vote to leave the EU, investors are (quite rightly) focusing on macro risks and volatility.
However, as the dust begins to settle they are now looking across the fringes of their portfolios, including alternative assets such as VC and PE. As a small part of that portfolio with our knowledge-intensive university spin-out EIS funds we thought we should offer our thoughts to our investors.
The Enterprise Investment Scheme
The EIS has been in place in various guises since 1981 (the ‘BSUS’ then the ‘BES’ which was replaced by the EIS in 1993). It has had cross-party support, and successive governments of both political persuasions have increased the reliefs available over the years.
In Parkwalk’s opinion, this is understandable. Creating jobs and generating and keeping skills in the UK is vital and easy for politicians to support.
In fact, our portfolio companies have raised over £500m between them since 2010, and we have contributed £50m of EIS tax-advantaged monies to that £500m (as of Dec 2015). That means the initial tax reliefs have ‘cost’ HMRC £15m. Our portfolio companies employ c.1,200 people, over half of which are educated to MSc or PhD, and their annual NI and PAYE bill is c.£28m (nearly twice the ‘cost’ of the initial tax relief).
Economy / Currency
Many of our portfolio companies are at an early stage so the immediate impacts of a potentially weaker UK economy / currency are limited.
The majority of our portfolio companies are developing ‘global products’, so the UK economy is not the sole driver to sales – our two recent trade-sales of portfolio companies were to international acquirers.
A lower currency may also reduce global sales costs.
Funding / Grants for companies
Could a weaker UK economy affect Government backing for Research and Development?
The Oxford Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood seeks assurances the government will fight to protect access to research collaborations and recruitment of EU researchers. “They are essential to our knowledge economy,” she adds. The (current) PM says it is important to ensure advances in British sciences are maintained.
Many of our companies do receive funding from EU backed entities. Any grants already awarded are likely to continue to be honoured but there will probably be a different process in future and one assumes it may take time to implement and to access new schemes. That said, we have until at least 2019 to implement them.
Investors / Tax Benefits
Our network of high net worth individuals will have been affected by the repercussions of Brexit in the market place. That will affect their propensity to invest in the UK and in private companies.
The Government has been committed to providing tax benefits to SMEs for a long period. It is unlikely that Brexit will change this position but the nature and scale of the benefits may come under examination. That said, some consider that the EIS reliefs have been constrained by EU law historically.
Markets / Exits
We expect the London markets to be shut for IPOs in the short to medium term, but six months is a long time in politics, and the decline in sterling has made UK assets significantly cheaper to potential purchasers from abroad, enhancing their merits relative to assets in other denominations. We believe this applies more directly to assets with a high technology component and global potential.
We believe the ‘patent box’ regime will continue to make IP-heavy UK tech companies attractive to international OEMs.
Staffing
The situation with regard to staffing is likely to be mixed, with the potential for lower wages locally but a potential risk of skills shortages. Some specialised fields may be difficult to fill as access to EU workers may become more problematic – however we believe novel technologies will continue to attract global skilled workers.
Competition
There are few European VCs who compete for investments in UK start-ups and likewise there are few UK VCs who invest in European start-ups, who might re-focus on the UK, so we see little change here.
Summary
Obviously it is a difficult time with both ‘known and unknown’ unknowns ahead, but we believe the UK economy is fundamentally resilient.
Revolymer – acquisition and sale of nicotine gum business
Revolymer PLC, the AIM-listed specialty chemicals company, on Monday said it agreed to buy Itaconix Corp, a privately owned polymer company based in New Hampshire, for up to USD13.0 million in cash and shares, in an acquisition to be supported by a share placing to raise GBP4.0 million, and to sell its nicotine gum business in a separate move.
Revolymer, which was incorporated in 2005 as a spinout from Bristol University and began trading on AIM in July 2012, said it will pay USD7.0 million up front for Itaconix, with USD3.0 million of that amount in cash and USD4.0 million in the form of 6.3 million shares at an issue price of 44.38 pence each. A deferred amount of up to USD6.0 million will be paid in shares, depending on whether or not performance criteria are met.
Itaconix, which was founded in 2008 by John Shaw, its chief executive officer, and Yvon Durant, its chief technology officer, had a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of about USD800,000 on sales of USD1.3 million, based on unaudited 2015 figures, Revolymer said. About USD5.0 million has been invested in the business to date, based on unaudited figures. Shaw and Durant are among Itaconix’s major shareholders.
Revolymer’s £4.0 million fundraising is being conducted through an accelerated bookbuild placing, a process that requires little marketing and allows for shares to be sold in a short period of time. About half of the money raised will fund the cash element of the acquisition, with the other half to provide working capital for the combined business, develop and commercialise products, and pay transactional costs.
Woodford Investment Management, which was established in 2014 by renowned money manager Neil Woodford, and IP2IPO Ltd, part of FTSE 250 investor IP Group PLC, have “indicated a willingness” to maintain their shareholdings in Revolymer, the company said.
In addition, Woodford Investment Management has indicated “in principle” a willingness to invest an additional amount to to increase its shareholding to over 30% and less than 50% of Revolymer.
The company said also that it has agreed heads of terms with a European nicotine gum-focused marketer over a potential transfer of Revolymer’s nicotine gum business in exchange for equity in the enlarged marketer company. The European nicotine gum-focused marketer was not named in the statement. Revolymer expects the transfer of its nicotine gum business to complete in the third quarter of 2016.
Revolymer said the European nicotine gum marketer has EU regulatory approval for its products and an established European customer base, which “complements” Revolymer’s Canadian customer base. The company said it is “anticipated” it would have “no ongoing cost obligation” on completion of the transfer.
Kevin Matthews, chief executive of Revolymer, said the two transactions are a “key step” in the company’s strategy of “building an innovative and differentiated specialty chemical company delivering high performance ingredients to its target markets through the development of novel polymers, responsive encapsulation and targeted delivery systems”.
“Itaconix represents an extremely complementary business in terms of markets and products and also provides a presence in the important North American market. In parallel the asset transfer of Revolymer’s nicotine gum business to a larger business focussed solely on nicotine gum with a management team that has substantial sector experience should create further strategic focus for both segments of Revolymer’s business,” Matthews said in a statement.
Panmure Gordon is acting as nominated adviser, broker and bookrunner on the placing.
Parkwalk portfolio company CCMOSS – acquired by ams AG to become world leader in gas and infrared sensing
ams AG (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide manufacturer of high performance sensor and analog solutions, has acquired 100% of the shares in Cambridge CMOS Sensors Ltd (CCS), the technology leader in micro hotplate structures for gas sensing and infrared applications, in an all-cash transaction.
Founded in 2008 as a spin-off from Cambridge University, with the start of technology development dating back to 1994 in collaboration with the University of Warwick, CCS has built an outstanding expertise in micro hotplate design and manufacturing for gas and infrared sensing over more than 20 years. Parkwalk and Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge, have supported CCS throughout its development.
CCS’ micro hotplates are MEMS structures that are used in gas sensors for volume applications in the automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer markets. The company’s deep expertise in this area is highly synergetic with ams’ technology leadership in MOX gas sensing materials to detect gases like CO, NOx, and VOCs. CCS manufactures these MEMS structures on CMOS wafers allowing the creation of complete monolithically integrated CMOS sensor ICs. This makes CCS’ solutions highly cost-efficient, besides offering other significant advantages over competing technologies like low power consumption, small footprint and the ability to integrate additional sensor modalities like relative humidity, temperature, and pressure.
“The addition of CCS makes ams the clear leader in gas and infrared sensor technology worldwide, and completes ams’ portfolio of products and technologies for the environmental sensor market.”
Alexander Everke
In addition, CCS commands an industry-leading portfolio of IR technology comprising high performance IR radiation sources and detectors for sensor applications. Highly complementary to ams’ spectral sensing strategy for next generation optical sensor technologies, CCS’ IR sensing is based on the same monolithic CMOS structures as for gas sensing, enabling miniaturised implementations and efficient integration with other on-chip functions. Applications include CO2 gas sensing and human presence detection and will extend into spectroscopic identification of organic materials.
CCS’ corporate headquarters are located in Cambridge, UK, and the company has 33 employees. The Cambridge region has become a centre of innovation for sensor technologies globally so ams values the ability to gain direct access to this attractive ecosystem going forward.
The parties to the transaction have agreed to keep the consideration confidential. ams plans to fully integrate CCS’ activities into its existing environmental sensor business, which has development locations in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Reutlingen, Germany.
Perpetuum – Eversholt adopts Perpetuum system to monitor Southeastern Class 465s
Perpetuum has been awarded the contract to supply a sensor system for Eversholt Rail to use in monitoring the condition of eight Southeastern trains.
The Perpetuum system will be used on eight London Southeastern Class 465 trains while they are in service to extend wheelset overhauls and improve reliability.
Mark Johnson, engineering director of Southeastern, said: “London Southeastern has been committed to maximising the performance of its fleets as it endeavours to deliver some of the most challenging timetables in the country.
“Using live information on the bogie’s true condition to inform our maintenance regime has been instrumental to this, along with building a systems approach to asset management by integrating track condition into the wheelset management decision making.”
Perpetuum’s self-powered system, which has previously been used by Eversholt on Bombardier Class 375s and 376s and Alstom Class 466s, produces vibration and temperature data – enabling clients to view the real-time health and predict the failure of rotating components on trains, such as wheel bearings, motors and gearboxes.
Steve Turley, CEO of Perpetuum, said: “We are extremely pleased to continue our collaboration with Eversholt Rail and Southeastern, helping to change the expectations of what can be achieved with existing rolling stock by using methodologies proven in other sectors.”
Andy Course, chief operating officer of Eversholt Rail, added that wheelset and bogie condition monitoring is part of an ever larger Eversholt Rail policy of moving its maintenance methodology towards a “data-driven and real-time operation that will increase availability and reduce cost for our valued clients, like London Southeastern”.
Perpetuum has also been awarded a contract to install wireless sensor systems to monitor when maintenance is needed on Govia Thameslink trains.
ARM Holdings – £24.3bn acquisition of the University of Cambridge spin-out
Japan’s Softbank on Monday offered £24.3bn ($32bn) in cash to acquire 100% of ARM Holdings, the UK’s smartphone chip designer that is one of the leaders in the infrastructure of the internet of things.
In 2015, Forbes ranked ARM as the most innovative company in Europe, and the fifth most innovative in the world.
The deal values ARM at 24.4x 2015 revenues or 56.8x 2015 EBITDA.
We believe this is further proof of the value of UK University spin-outs, and their global appeal – ARM have world-wide sales and are unaffected by Brexit as Philip Hammond, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Just three weeks after the referendum decision, it shows that Britain has lost none of its allure to international investors.”
“as ARM’s founders will testify, this is the greatest place in the world to start and grow a technology business,” he added.
Softbank’s investment would be the largest ever from Asia into the UK. The deal would “guarantee to double the number of jobs in ARM in the UK over the next five years and turn this great British company into a global phenomenon”.
Over 70bn ARM-designed chips have been shipped to date, with 95% of the world’s smartphones containing at least one ARM-based component, and Canalys estimate 80% of wearable devices sold in 2014 contained at least one ARM-based chip.
Last month Cambridge CMOS Sensors, another spin-out creating next generation internet of things sensors was acquired by ams AG – more detail can be seen here.
Posted on July 18, 2016
Electronics, Fund Managers Comments, Semiconductors
Cambridge, Electronics, Semiconductors