IP Group to sell Featurespace to Visa for undisclosed sum

IP Group - an investor in early-stage science and technology companies - said on Thursday that Visa has agreed to buy one of its portfolio companies, Featurespace, for an undisclosed sum.

IP Group expects to receive £134m total cash for its holding in Featurespace, £119m of which will be received on completion and £15m of which is subject to deferral.

The group was the first institutional investor in Featurespace in 2012. It has invested a total of £22.9m over seven financing rounds and is currently Featurespace's largest shareholder.

IP chief executive Greg Smith said: "Having supported Featurespace for over ten years, we are delighted with this record exit, which represents an excellent financial return for IP Group. Our congratulations go to Martina King, Dave Excell and the Featurespace team.

"This transaction, which follows the sales of Garrison this year and Wave Optics in 2021, further validates IP Group's model and our expertise in identifying and supporting businesses to successful exits."

IP described Featurespace as a leader in enterprise technology that prevents fraud and financial crime.

Featurespace helps banks and financial institutions protect customers, reducing risk and business operating costs by providing "industry-leading" machine learning, fraud & financial crime prevention solutions via its award-winning platform, it said.