TTP Group has bought back the 12.6 per cent interest in the company owned by the venture capital company 3i for an undisclosed sum.
The shares will be transferred to its employee share ownership plan.
TTP’s chief executive Peter Taylor says: ‘We are pleased to be able to purchase these shares to help fulfil our commitment to keeping the company controlled by its employees. This has been a key reason why TTP has been so successful since its inception 21 years ago when it was predominantly funded with founder employees’ own capital.’
TTP was founded at the end of 1987 and has grown over the years entirely financed from retained profits, after some initial external equity investments were arranged in 1988. The majority of shares are held by present and former employees.
The current deal increases the shareholding of its ESOP trust to 17 per cent. It plans to use the income the trust received from its shareholding to enhance the broad share ownership of current and future employees, by providing a more active and liquid share market. Since the company first achieved profitability, it has used 15 per cent of its profits to pay bonuses and provide free shares to its staff.
The company has a policy which caps bonuses for the highest earners and protects the lowest earners with a floor.
Taylor adds: ‘We firmly believe that the future for our company includes facilitating the transfer of broad ownership of the company from one generation of employees to the next, so that they too can share in the success of the company. This purchase increases the percentage of the company owned by employees past and present, together with the ESOP, to about 89 per cent and will strengthen the ESOP’s ability to act as a facilitator in our internal share market.
TTP Group is an independent technology, product development and incubation company that aims to create new business based on advances in technology. It is the holding company for The Technology Partnership, TTP LabTech, TTP Venture Managers, Melbourn Science Park and Tonejet.
The company, established in 1987, is based in Melbourn Science Park near Cambridge in the UK and employs about 300 staff, the majority scientists and engineers.
