IQE plc: Issue of Equity

Payment of $5M IP purchase fee through issue of IQE shares to Translucent, Inc. in relation to acquisition of cREO™ technology

Cardiff, UK. 25 September 2018: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, “IQE” or the “Company”), the leading global supplier of advanced wafer products and wafer services to the semiconductor industry, confirms that it will issue 4,262,256 new ordinary shares of 1 pence each in IQE (the “Payment Shares”) to Translucent Inc. (“Translucent”).

The Payment Shares have been issued as consideration to satisfy the $5,000,000 fee payable for the purchase of Translucent’s unique and innovative ‘Rare Earth Oxide’ (cREO™) semiconductor technology.

IQE initially announced on 15 September 2015 that it had signed the Option, Licence and Assignment Agreement dated 15 September 2015 with Silex Systems Limited and its subsidiary, Translucent (“the Agreement”), which provided IQE with an exclusive 30-month licence for the commercialisation of the Translucent cREO™ technology and an exclusive option (exercisable solely at IQE's discretion) for the acquisition of the technology.  On 16 March 2018, the company announced that it had exercised its exclusive option to acquire and own the cREO™ technology and had six months following the exercise of the option to pay the $5,000,000 consideration.

The cREO™ technology offers a unique approach to the manufacture of a wide range of innovative Compound Semiconductor on Silicon products, including gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon (Si) for the burgeoning Power switching and RF technologies markets.

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for admission of 4,262,256 new ordinary shares in the Company of 1 pence each (“Ordinary Shares”) to trading on AIM. It is expected that dealings in these new Ordinary Shares, which will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares, is expected to commence on 28 September 2018 (“Admission”).

Following Admission, the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue will be 765,351,668. All of these Ordinary Shares carry voting rights of one vote per Ordinary Share. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury and so the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 765,351,668.

Contacts:

IQE plc ( 0)

Chris Meadows

Godfrey Ainsworth

Drew Nelson

Canaccord Genuity ( 00)

Simon Bridges

Richard Andrews

Peel Hunt ( 0)

Edward Knight

Nick Prowting