annual report general report 20072)eng.pdf2 l general report 2007 pursuant to the royal decree of...

ANNUAL REPORTGENERAL REPORT 2007

QUEST FOR GROWTH: 2007 GENERAL REPORTC

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Notice to the shareholders

Profile, Aim, Investment Policy

Corporate Governance

Board of Directors

Ratios

Key facts

Investment Managers Report

Investments in quoted companiesInvestments in unquoted companies & venture funds

Portfolio

Holdings at December 31st 2007Portfolio composition: By country

By stock marketBy sector

Company profiles: Unquoted companiesVenture capital fundsQuoted companies

General information

Financial calendar

Key information

2 l GENERAL REPORT 2007

Pursuant to the Royal Decree of March 31st 2003 on the

obligations of financial instruments admitted to trading

on a Belgium regulated market, Quest for Growth is re-

quired to publish its Annual Report and Accounts as well

as its Audit Report 15 days prior to the Annual General

Meeting. It must be published in the form of a brochure

available for public distribution.

The integral version of the statutory Annual Accounts is

deposited with the National Bank of Belgium, pursuant

to the articles 98 and 100 of the Company Code,

together with the Annual Report of the Board of

Directors and the Audit Report.

The Auditor has approved the statutory Annual

Accounts without qualification.

The Annual Report, the integral versions of the statutory

Annual Accounts, as well as the Audit Report regarding

the Annual Accounts are available at the website

www.questforgrowth.com or alternatively may be re-

quested free of charge from the following address:

Address: Lei 19 box 3, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium

Phone: +32 (0)16 28 41 28

Fax: +32 (0)16 28 41 29

E-mail: [email protected]

Dear Shareholders,

In 2007, Quest for Growth considerably strengthened the basis for our future growth. This was achieved byrealising no less than eight new investments in unquoted companies and by increasing the operating resources through a capital increase.The portfolio of unquoted companies, which saw four major participations go public in the successful 2006year, was further reinforced by investment commitments in companies in which no previously investmentshad been made. This was for an overall value of circa €12.5 million and approximately 75 % of this invest-ment volume was accounted for through pharmaceuticals & biotechnology: Movetis (B) €2.5 million, KiadisPharma (NL) €2 million, Syntaxin (UK) £ 1.5 million, Prosonix (UK) €1 million and Tc Land Expression (FR)€1.5 million. The remaining 25 % was invested in three technology companies: Mapper (NL) €0.5 million,Gemidis (B) €2 million and Certess (USA) $ 1 million. We anticipate these investments will contribute to thecompany’s results during the next few years through the realisation of capital gains on exits.

In April 2007, a €19.8 million capital increase took place and all newly offered shares were taken up by both existing and new shareholders. Following this transaction, Quest for Growth can invest larger amountsin the consolidating European venture capital market and also maintain a market capitalisation of over €100 million. The latter was necessary following the remittance of €21.5 million dividend - €1.94 per ordinary share - in the 2006 financial year. The existing active participations in unquoted companies developed favourably. For example, the participa-tion in Welcome RealTime (in which €0.485 million was invested in 2005) was capitalised by a sale to a financial investor, and resulted in a €1 million profit. However, the market value seriously decreased in onecase, where development was not favourable. In addition, a €1.95 million depreciation was booked beforethe end of the financial year for another case where the results were not as we anticipated.

During 2007, the stock markets were unpredictable with a successful first half of the year being followed bymajor corrections during the second half and most indices closing in the red. Quest for Growth closed its financial year with a net profit of €0.620 million, once again outperforming its three reference indexes -NASDAQ in euro, Benmax50 and NextEconomy – all three of which recorded a negative performance forthe year. Despite the disappointing profit margin in absolute terms, the relative performance is once againproving very strong.Quest for Growth continues to place emphasis on high quality information and transparency. Evidence ofthis comes through our being awarded first place in the Cash Investor Relations Award and third place in the‘Best financial information’ category at the Belgian Association of Financial Analysts.

Dr. Jos B. PeetersChairman

MESSAGE TO THE SHAREHOLDERS

GENERAL REPORT 2007 l 3


Quest for Growth focuses on European technology-

based growth companies in such sectors as life sciences, in-

formation technology, software, semiconductors, telecom,

electronics, new materials and special situations in other

growth sectors. As at December 31st 2007, funds under

management amounted to €116 million.

Quest for Growth has been listed on Euronext Brussels since

September 23rd 1998.

The Privak, created by the Royal Decree of April 18th 1997,

is an investment vehicle that is specially tailored to provide a

suitable framework for investments in private equity and

growth companies.

The Privak is a closed-end fund regulated

by the Belgian Banking Commission and subject to specific

investment and dividend payout rules:

PROFILE, AIM, INVESTMENT POLICY

Investment rules- A minimum of 50 % of the portfolio must be invested in equity;

- A minimum of 70 % of the portfolio (qualified investments) must

be invested in:

> Unquoted companies;

> Companies quoted on a growth market or

> Venture Funds with an investment policy similar to the Privak.

However, investments in quoted companies on a growth market

can never exceed 50 % of the qualified investments. The company

is neither permitted to invest over 20 % of the portfolio in one com-

pany nor invest over €6.2 million in one company per year.

On November 8th 2005, Quest for Growth raised its capital by

€32 million. In accordance with the Royal Decree of April

18th 1997, a period of 5 years is granted to the fund to comply

with the investment rules of the Privak.

On April 30th 2007, Quest for Growth raised its capital by

€20 million. In accordance with the Royal Decree of April 18th

1997, a period of 5 years is granted to the fund to comply with

the investment rules of the Privak.

Tax BenefitsThe Privak benefits from important tax advantages, which only apply if;

- The investment rules (supra) are adhered to;

- All investments are made in companies subject to a normal tax

regime and

- Over 80 % of the realised benefits of the fiscal year are paid out as

a dividend (Quest for Growth states in its Articles of Association

that at least 90 % of the realised benefits must be paid out).

If the Privak invests its assets in accordance with these rules, the taxa-

ble basis will only consist of the disallowed expenses and abnormal

or gratuitous benefits received. In practice, it pays almost no taxes.

Taxation for Belgian retail investors and legal entitiessubject to tax on legal entities

Dividend payments

No withholding tax is due on the part of the dividend that stems

from the capital gains on shares realised by the Privak. The remai-

ning part of the dividend is subject to a withholding tax of 15 % and

withholding taxes are considered to be final taxes.

Capital gains

In principle, retail investors are not subject to income tax on capital

gains realised upon the sale of shares of the Privak.

Taxation for Belgian investors who are subject to corpo-rate income tax

Dividend payments

A withholding tax of 15 % is due on the dividend that is distributed

by the Privak. However, no withholding tax is due on the part of the

dividend that stems from capital gains realised.

Distributed dividends will be eligible for Dividend-Received Deduction

(DRD). There is neither a minimum participation condition nor a mini-

mum holding period in the capital of the Issuer to benefit from the

DRD. Moreover, the participation in the company-Privak must not ne-

cessarily be booked as a financial fixed asset to benefit from the DRD.

The dividends distributed by the Privak will only be eligible for

DRD to the extent that they stem from dividends that give right to

DRD or exempt capital gains on shares satisfying article 192 BITC.

Income stemming from dividends that do not give right to DRD or

interest will be fully subject to corporate income tax at the rate of

33.99 %. Therefore, the Privak will allocate its dividends in function

of the source of the distributed income.

Capital gains

Capital gains realised on the shares of the Privak will normally be

subject to corporate income tax at the rate of 33.99 %, while capital

losses are not tax deductible. However, it should be noted that

since the Privak distributes almost all of its benefits, capital gains

should be reduced.

Investment policyQuest for Growth invests in growth companies with the objective of

converting capital gains into tax-free income through the Privak

structure. The largest part of the portfolio is invested in growth

companies listed on European stock exchanges (Euronext, London

Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse etc) and other regulated markets.

The balance will be invested in unquoted companies working to-

wards an introduction to a stock exchange or trade sale within 36

months. Investments in start-ups or early stage companies are per-

mitted, but will be exceptional.

Within this category of unquoted companies, up to 15 % of the as-

sets can be invested in venture or private equity funds having an

investment policy compatible with that of Quest for Growth.



Since being established in 1998, Quest for Growth has placed priority

on corporate governance and transparency. And this has been recog-

nised by the market with Quest for Growth winning both of the

awards currently existing in Belgium for the best financial communi-

cation in its market segment.

The final version of the Belgian Corporate Governance Code was

published on December 9th 2004. All listed companies are required

to draft a Corporate Governance Charter and publish it on their web-

site. This Charter includes information on the company's corporate

governance structure and policy. With effect from 2005, listed com-

panies are also requested to include a section on corporate gover-

nance in their Annual Report, which should include certain obligatory

information and - where appropriate - the reasons why the company

deviates from the Code in certain instances.

The Code contains nine principles that are deemed to constitute the

foundation of good corporate governance and provisions and guide-

lines further elaborate on these principles. If a company fails to com-

ply with a provision, it is expected to explain why this is the case.

This Code will be an important benchmark for companies aiming to

achieve excellence in corporate governance. Consequently, Quest

for Growth's board of Directors has taken the opportunity to critically

analyse its policy and adjust it where desirable or required.

In view of the above, it is no surprise that the fund complies with

most of the Code's provisions and indeed sometimes goes beyond

the requirements, for example through the involvement of Inde -

pendent Directors on the Board of Directors.

The Corporate Governance Charter can be referred to at Quest for

Growth’s website: www.questforgrowth.com

The following section provides an overview of the principles and pro-

visions of the Code that Quest for Growth has yet to implement, how

this situation may be remedied and, (in one case only) the reasons for

this divergence.

Principle 5: Specialised committeesThe Corporate Governance Code recommends that special commit-

tees be set up within the Board of Directors. These are an Audit

Committee, a Remuneration Committee and a Nomination

Committee.

Quest for Growth's Memorandum and Articles of Association only

provide for an Audit Committee.

The procedure followed when proposing the composition of the

Board of Directors and will be added to the Corporate Governance

Charter. An Investment Committee operates within the Board of

Directors, which takes the final investment decision regarding all in-

vestments in unquoted companies.

Principle 5.2/19: The Audit Committee should meet atleast three times a yearThe Audit Committee of Quest for Growth meets twice per year and

whenever deemed appropriate. In principle, the meetings of the

Audit Committee take place prior to the meeting of the Board of

Directors approving the bi-Annual and Annual report.

As soon as the company will apply IFRS, the Audit Committee will

meet at least four times a year, on a quarterly basis and whenever

deemed appropriate.

Principle 8.9: General MeetingsThe required percentage of shares that a (single) shareholder must

hold to be able to convene a General Meeting may not exceed 5 % of

the capital.

In accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association and

the Company Code (Article 532), Quest for Growth applies the rule

that shareholders owning more than 20 % of the shares may convene

a General Meeting. A maximum of 5 % is not advisable due to the

relatively small size of the company.

The organisation of supplementary Extraordinary General Assemblies

could indeed induce extra financial charges, negatively impacting the

financial result of the Company.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Composition, appointments and expiry of term of office

In accordance with the Articles of Association of Quest for Growth,

the management of the company is entrusted to a Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors is composed of at least eight but no more than

fifteen members and the holders of Class A and Class B shares each

have the right to put forward a list of prospective Directors. The

General Meeting elects four Directors from each list and the holders

of ordinary shares are entitled to put forward the names of one or

more prospective Directors. The General Meeting may elect a maxi-

mum of seven Directors from that list.

Board members are appointed for a period of not more than three

years by the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Directors whose terms of office have expired may be re-appointed.

The members of the Board of Directors during the financial year are

named below, together with confirmation of the expiry date of their

current term of office.

On December 31st 2007, the board of Quest for Growth comprised

eleven members.

Five independent Directors sit on the Board of Quest for Growth and

the criterion of independence is based on Article 524 §4 of the

Belgian Companies Code.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Audit Committee met twice this year. 15/01/2007 16/07/2007

Tacan BVBA Johan Tack

P P

Bergendal & Co SPRLCount Diego du Monceau de Bergendal

A P

Auxilium Keerbergen BVBAFrans Theeuwes

P P

Gengest BVBARudi Mariën

P

P = present A = absent

Proposed by shareholders of class:

Chairman Jos B. Peeters 2007 A

Managing Director Quest Management NVrepresented by René Avonts, ManagingDirector

2007 A

Vice Chairman Bergendal & CO SPRL (1)represented by Count Diego du Monceau deBergendal

2007 B

Vice Chairman Tacan BVBA represented by Johan Tack 2007 A

Director Euro Invest Management NV represented by Philippe Haspeslagh 2007 A

Director De Meiboom NV represented by Edward Claeys (2) 2007 B

Director Auxilium Keerbergen BVBA (1) represented by Frans Theeuwes 2007 B

Director Gengest BVBA (1) represented by Rudi Mariën 2007 Ordinary

Director Koen Debackere (1) 2007 Ordinary

Director Dirk Vanderschrick 2007 B

Director Pamica NV (1) represented by Michel Akkermans 2007 Ordinary

(1) Independent director(2) Up to April 23rd 2007 De Meiboom NV was represented by Mr Leo Claeys

Date on which the term of office expires: at the end of the General Meeting that assesses theresults for the financial year ending on December 31st

The board of Directors met five times this year.

15/01/2007 14/03/2007 23/04/2007 16/07/2007 15/10/2007

Jos B. Peeters P P P P P

Quest Management NVRené Avonts

P P P P P

Euro Invest Management NVPhilippe Haspeslagh

P A P A A

Tacan BVBAJohan Tack

P P P P P

Bergendal & Co SPRLCount Diego du Monceau de Bergendal

P P P P P

Dirk Vanderschrick P A A P P

Auxilium Keerbergen BVBAFrans Theeuwes

P P P P P

De Meiboom NVLeo Claeys

A A

De Meiboom NVEdward Claeys

P P P


P P A A P

Pamica NVMichel Akkermans

P P P P P

Koenraad De Backere A A A A A

The InvestmentCommittee met seventimes this year.

12/02/2007 14/03/2007 16/04/2007 13/08/2007 18/09/2007 09/10/2007 16/11/2007

Mapper

Gemidis,Mapper,

Mill,Trigen

Vmedia,Kiadis

CETP II,Kimotion

CCFSyntaxinCERTESS

UpdateCERTESS

(confe-rence call)

Prosonix,TcLand,

Clear2Pay

Jos B. Peeters A P P A P P P

Quest Management NVRené Avonts

P P P P P P A

Euro Invest Management NVPhilippe Haspeslagh

P A P A P P P

Nadia Van Hove A P P P P P A

De Meiboom NVLeo Claeys

A A A

De Meiboom NVEdward Claeys

P P P A


P P P P P A A

Pamica NV A P A P A P P



DR JOS B. PEETERS CHAIRMAN

Jos B. Peeters is the founder and managing partner of Capricorn Venture Partners NV, a Leuven based venture capi-

tal company.

He was Managing Director of BeneVent Management NV for seven years. This is a venture capital operation associ-

ated with the Kredietbank-Almanij Group. He previously worked for the international technology-based consulting

group PA Technology and the Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company (now part of Alcatel).

Dr Peeters holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Leuven. He has also been chairman of the European

Venture Capital Association (EVCA) and co-founder of EASDAQ, the pan-European stock market for growth stocks.

He is currently President of EASDAQ/EQUIDUCT.

He is also Independent Director of Innogenetics and Fellow of the Hogenheuvelcollege and Fellow of

[email protected], both from the KU Leuven.

BERGENDAL & CO SPRL VICE CHAIRMAN - INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR - REPRESENTED BY COUNT DIEGO DU MONCEAU DE BERGENDAL

Count Diego du Monceau de Bergendal has a wealth of senior management experience. Following a successful ca-

reer in corporate finance with Merrill Lynch and Swiss Bank International Corporation, he joined GIB Group where

he rose to become Managing Director. He subsequently became GIB Group Chief Executive Officer.

Currently, he is an Independent Director of ING Belgium, Continental Bakeries (Netherlands), Euroshoe Group, WE

International and Le Foyer Finance (Lux), as well as being on the boards of several non-profit organisations.

TACAN BVBAVICE CHAIRMAN - REPRESENTED BY MR JOHAN TACK

Johan Tack holds a diploma in Economic Sciences and a special diploma in Management from the University of

Ghent. Since 1976, he has been employed in various commercial and managerial posts at Generale Bank (now

Fortis Bank). As a member of the bank's Executive Committee, he was responsible for Marketing and Finance and

Control (1994-1997), Asset Management (1997-2000) and the Credit Department (1998-2000).

In 1981, Mr Tack set up the Vlaamse Investeringsvennootschap, now Fortis Private Equity, where he was Managing

Director until 1983 and a Board Member until 1994. Currently, he is Chief Executive Officer of Aon Belgium and an

Independent Director on the Boards of several companies, including Picanol and Group Maes.


QUEST MANAGEMENT NV MANAGING DIRECTOR - REPRESENTED BY MR RENÉ AVONTS - MANAGING DIRECTOR - QUEST MANAGEMENT NV

Quest Management NV is the investment manager for Quest for Growth NV. It carries out due diligence investigations,

recommends investment and divestment decisions and monitors and produces valuation overviews of the portfolio.

In 1970, René Avonts graduated in Applied Economics (Ingénieur Commercial) from the University of Leuven and

began his career in the IT division of Paribas Belgium. He joined the International Division in 1972 and became head

of that Department in 1985. He was elected member of the Executive Committee and Director in 1995 with responsi-

bility for Capital Markets and Corporate Banking. In 1998, he became a member of the Executive Committee of

Artesia Bank and Bacob, taking responsibility for Financial Markets and Investment Banking, as well as chairman of

Artesia Securities, the group's equity broker, which was renamed Dexia Securities following the acquisition of Artesia

by Dexia in 2001. He left the bank in March 2002 at the time of the legal merger between Dexia and Artesia.

He was subsequently appointed Director and CFO of Elex NV: the reference shareholder of e.g. Melexis, Xfabs and

EPIQ. In addition, he joined Unit International, an investor in energy projects in Turkey and the Middle East as

Director and - for a short time - as CFO. In September 2003, René Avonts became CEO of Quest Management NV

and has been a Director of Quest for Growth since its IPO in 1998.

EURO INVEST MANAGEMENT NVDIRECTOR - REPRESENTED BY PROF PHILIPPE HASPESLAGH

Philippe Haspeslagh is a Professor at INSEAD, the international business school with campuses situated in

Fontainebleau and Singapore, where he holds the Paul Desmarais Chair in Partnership and Active Ownership.

He previously taught as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Business School and the Stanford Business School, as well

as being Head of Cabinet for the Belgian Minister of Agriculture and of Small and Medium Enterprises. His research

covers the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Strategy, Managing for Value and Corporate Governance.

Philippe Haspeslagh is the founder of INSEAD’s International Directors' Forum and is Chairman of Dujardin Foods

NV, Quest Management NV and Capricorn Venture Partners NV. In addition, he is a Board member of Kinepolis and

Vandemoortele SA and is also a non-executive partner in Procuritas, a management buy-out fund.


DE MEIBOOM NVDIRECTOR - REPRESENTED BY MR EDWARD CLAEYS

Since 2003, Edward Claeys has been active in the ERP and e-commerce sector for small and medium businesses.

Besides being Managing Director of Software Developments N.V. (SDE) and Stonewood Systems N.V. he is also

active within the Board of Directors of Capital@Rent, the Investment Holding Cennini NV and De Meiboom N.V.

UP TO APRIL 23rd 2007 DE MEIBOOM NV WAS REPRESENTED BY MR LEO CLAEYS.

Leo Claeys has been a shareholder of the Roularta Media Group since 1972. He built up the internal structure of

the media group and is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Mr Claeys is also active on the Boards of Directors of Capital@Rent, Software Development (SDE), Vincent

Sheppard Company and various family firms. He is Chairman of the Cennini Investment Holding and Chairman of

NV De Meiboom.

PAMICA NVINDEPENDENT DIRECTOR - REPRESENTED BY MR MICHEL AKKERMANS

Michel Akkermans is a Civil Electrotechnical Engineer and also earned a special degree in Business Economics,

both at the University of Leuven. He is currently CEO and Chairman of Clear2Pay, a software technology compa-

ny specialising in payment solutions.

Mr Akkermans is a member of the Advisory Board at the venture capital company GIMV and holds Board posi-

tions at a number of companies.

AUXILIUM KEERBERGEN BVBAINDEPENDENT DIRECTOR - REPRESENTED BY MR FRANS THEEUWES

Frans Theeuwes graduated in commerce and finance from UFSIA Antwerp. He was an accountant audit partner at

KPMG and professor at the AHH (presently part of Lessius Hogeschool). He was an auditor of banks, insurance

companies, as well as commercial and high-tech companies quoted on the Belgian and French stock exchanges

and the auditor of affiliated companies of US, UK and Japanese multinationals. Consequently, he is familiar with US

GAAP, IAS, UK GAAP, as well as local accounting standards.

Mr Theeuwes is an Independent Director on local boards of national and international non-profit-making organisa-

tions.


GENGEST BVBAINDEPENDENT DIRECTOR - REPRESENTED BY MR RUDI MARIËN

Born in 1945, Rudi M. Mariën is a co-founder of INNOGENETICS and has been Chairman of the Board of

Directors and a major shareholder since the foundation of the company.

Mr Mariën is also the founder, shareholder and Managing Director of several medical laboratories.

He is the President of BARC NV, an accredited international leading central clinical laboratory, specialising in phar-

maceutical studies and performing analyses within the framework of occupational medicine.

He has a degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the State University of Ghent and a specialisation in clinical biology.

PROF KOEN DEBACKEREINDEPENDENT DIRECTOR

Professor Debackere holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Management. He studied at the

University of Ghent and at MIT, Cambridge, US.

He is a full-time professor in Technology and Innovation Management at the University of Leuven. He has been a visit-

ing professor at Nijmegen Business School and is a faculty member at the Vlerick Leuven Ghent Management School.

He has also been a guest lecturer at various European business schools (Manchester, Kiel, Tilburg, INSEAD) and

obtained Best Research Paper Awards from the American Academy of Management and the Decisions Sciences

Institute.

Professor Debackere is the Managing Director of the University of Leuven's Research & Development Department

and Chairman of Gemma Frisius Fund, the University of Leuven's venture capital fund. In November 1999, he was

appointed as Chairman of Leuven Innovative Networking Circle (LINC) and in 2005, he was appointed as the

General Manager of the University of Leuven.

MR DIRK VANDERSCHRICKDIRECTOR

Dirk Vanderschrick is a member of the executive committee of Dexia Bank Belgium. As DOO he is responsible for

Operations, IT, Faciity Management & Organisation.

He is also Director of Dexia Bank, Swift & Dexia Technology Services.

Dirk Vanderschrick has a degree in Commercial and Financial Sciences and a Master's degree in Business

Administration from the University of Leuven.


OperationThe Board of Directors appoints a Chairman from amongst the

Board Members, who are nominated by the holders of Class A

shares.

For the Board of Directors to deliberate at least half its members

must be present or represented and at least two Class A Directors

and two Class B Directors must be present or represented. If this

quorum is not reached, a new meeting may be convened at which

the items on the agenda of the earlier meeting may be validly dis-

cussed and decided upon if at least four Directors are present or

represented. Where the law permits, resolutions of the Board may

be passed by written agreement of the members and all decisions

by the Board of Directors must be taken by a majority of the votes

present. Blank or invalid votes are not counted as cast votes and

the casting vote falls with the person chairing the meeting. The

company is validly represented by the Managing Director and a

Director acting jointly.

The company is also validly represented by three Directors acting

jointly, at least two of whom must have been elected on a proposal

from the holders of Class A or B shares. Within the terms of their

mandates, the company is validly bound by special proxies.

For day-to-day management issues, the company is validly repre-

sented only by the Managing Director and a Director acting togeth-

er. They may jointly delegate their powers for particular and specific

matters to an agent, even if that agent is not a shareholder or a

Director.

MeetingsThe Board of Directors met five times during the fiscal year. Besides

recurring tasks such as approving the quarterly reports, the bi-an-

nual and the Annual Report, the Board also covered other such

topics as the investment policy, compliance to the legal boundaries

regarding investment restrictions, corporate governance, the capital

increase, developments regarding IRFS, the share buy-back pro-

gramme, possible strategic partnerships and other strategic mat-

ters. Certain Board members were unable to attend all Board meet-

ings and were represented.

RemunerationThe five Independent Board Members receive an attendance fee as

set at the AGM of September 16th 1999 for attending meetings of

the Board or meetings of statutory organs within the Board of

Directors.

For this fiscal year, the attendance fees amounted to €53,140.00.

As an Independent Director, Koenraad Debackere abstains from all

fees.

Furthermore, the four Directors nominated by the holders of Class

A shares and the two Directors representing strategic shareholders

receive no fee.

Day-to-day managementThe Board of Directors delegates the day-to-day management of

the company to one or more Directors chosen from the Directors

proposed by the holders of class A shares and they have the title of

Managing Director. The Board of Directors together determine the

remuneration for that position.

Quest Management NV has been appointed as the Managing

Director by the Board and the day-to-day management is organised

in such a way that it is supervised on behalf of the Board of

Directors by the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee controls

in particular any transaction of the company or any situation where

one of the following persons or legal entities has a direct or indirect

interest:

• The management company or the depository bank;

• Persons linked to the management company or the depository

bank;

• Board members, Directors and persons responsible for the day-

to-day management of Quest for Growth, the management com-

pany or the depository bank.

Managing DirectorThe day-to-day management of the company has been entrusted to

Quest Management NV by the Board of Directors. Quest

Management was created in 1998 as an independent investment

manager specialising in managing portfolios of emerging technolo-

gy and life-sciences growth market stocks.

Quest Management is represented in the Board of Directors of

Quest for Growth by its Managing Director Mr René Avonts.

At the end of the financial year, the Quest Management staff con-

sisted of its Managing Director and nine employees.

René AvontsManaging Director

In 1970, René Avonts graduated from the University of Leuven

where he studied applied economics (Ingénieur Commercial) and

he started his career in the IT division of Paribas Belgium. He joined

the international division in 1972 and became head of that depart-

ment in 1985. In 1995, he was elected member of the Executive

Committee and Director taking responsibility for capital markets

and corporate banking. In 1998, he became a member of the exec-

utive committee of Artesia Bank and Bacob, where he was in

charge of financial markets and investment banking. He was also

Chairman of Artesia Securities, the group's equity broker, which

was renamed Dexia Securities after the acquisition of Artesia by

Dexia in 2001. He left the bank at the time of the legal merger be-

tween Dexia and Artesi in March 2002. He was subsequently ap-

pointed Director and CFO of Elex NV, the reference shareholder of

Melexis, Xfabs and EPIQ amongst others. In addition, he joined

Unit International as Director and for a short period as CFO. This is

an investor in energy projects in Turkey and the Middle East.

René became CEO of Quest Management NV in September 2003.

Patrick de BellefroidExecutive director

In 1975, Patrick de Bellefroid obtained a Bachelor’s degree in

Applied Economics from the IAG (Institute of Administrative

Management) of the Catholic University of Leuven and he began

his career at the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Trade. After

completing his military service as an Administrative Officer, he went

to work in the financial sector of Puissant Baeyens, Poswick and Co,

currency brokers, and in 1985 he became a partner in this compa-


RENÉ AVONTSManaging director

PATRICK DE BELLEFROIDExecutive director

KATRIN GEYSKENSInvestment Manager Technology Unquoted & Venture Funds

DR WILL BROOKSInvestment Manager Life sciences

ELS HUBLOUXInvestment ManagerUnquoted & Venture Funds

YVES VANEERDEWEGHInvestment Manager Quoted Portfolio

MARC PAUWELSFund Aministrator


ny. In 1988, the company merged with De Laet and became

Puilaetco Bank in 1990. Patrick held various positions at the bank

including head of the trading floor, head of institutional sales and

head of financial analysis before becoming Chairman in 2000.

Following the sale of Puilaetco to KBL, he left the bank. Since then,

he has held various board positions.

Patrick became Executive Director of Quest Management NV in

December 2007.

Dr William BrooksInvestment Manager of Life Sciences

Following studies at the Universities of Glasgow, Dundee and

Munich, Dr William Brooks has accumulated over 10 years

experience in the biotechnology industry. Dr Brooks has worked

both for and with leading companies and consultancies where he

has advised on such issues as business development, technology

assessment, financial strategy and mergers and acquisitions.

Dr Brooks competently applies his unique combination of technical

and business skills to the life sciences investments.

Will joined Quest Management NV in March 1999.

Katrin GeyskensInvestment Manager Unquoted Investments and Venture Funds

Katrin Geyskens graduated in commercial engineering at the

K.U.Leuven, Belgium and started her career at CERA Bank (cur-

rently KBC Bank) as a financial analyst. Katrin has obtained an MBA

degree from the University of Chicago and following these studies

she worked as a management consultant at A.T.Kearney and was

involved with the start-up of a venture services company.

Katrin joined Quest Management NV in June 2001.

Els HublouxInvestment Manager Unquoted Investments and Venture Funds

Els Hubloux holds a civil engineering degree and an MBA from the

V.U.Brussels, Belgium. She started her career in the R&D depart-

ment of the pharmaceutical companies Abbott and Merck. She later

joined KBC Securities as a financial analyst and went on to become

an investment manager at KBC Private Equity.

Els joined Quest Management NV in July 2007.

Yves VaneerdeweghInvestment Manager Quoted Investments

Yves Vaneerdewegh is a commercial engineer and certified EFFAS

financial analyst (European Federation of Financial Analysts'

Societies).

Yves has eleven years of experience as a financial analyst and port-

folio manager for mainly European small and mid cap companies.

He previously worked for Hamburg Mannheimer NV (Munich Re

Group) Brussels (1993 - 1997) as a financial analyst (mainly Belgian

and Dutch equity) and subsequently joined Puilaetco Private

Bankers NV as a senior portfolio manager.

Yves joined Quest Management NV in February 2005.

Marc PauwelsFund Administrator

Marc Pauwels studied economics (with a specialisation in account-

ancy) in Brussels and following this obtained a degree at the “fiscale

hogeschool” in Brussels. Marc worked as a tax advisor prior to join-

ing the former CERA Bank in Leuven, where for a two year period

he was responsible for the reporting on the “Risk Weighting Capital

Assets Ratio” to the Belgian Banking, Finance and Insurance

Commission. He then took responsibility for the administration and

accountancy of the investment funds promoted by the bank.

Marc joined Quest Management NV in October 1998.

Reporting and auditing

Through a decision at the EGM of February 2004, the already

existing Audit Committee became a statutory body of the Board

of Directors.

The Audit Committee consisted of a maximum of four members of

the Board of Directors, a majority being Independent Directors.

The Audit Committee appoints a Chairman from among its mem-

bers, who must be an Independent Director.

The Audit Committee reports to the Board of Directors regularly or

at least once a year.

The principle task of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board of

Directors in its supervisory tasks by verifying:

• the quality and integrity of the company’s auditing, accounting

and financial reporting procedures;

• the financial reports and other financial information provided by

the company to shareholders;

• the company’s systems of internal controls regarding accounting,

financial transactions and compliance with the legislation to

which the company is subject.

The Audit Committee has unlimited and direct access to all informa-

tion and personnel with information pertinent to the proper per-

formance of its duties and can dispose of all resources necessary to

perform its tasks. The company is expected to maintain free and

open communication with the auditors and the management of the

corporation.

In principle, the Audit Committee meets twice a year, although the

Committee may be convened at any time deemed necessary.

The Audit Committee met twice during the previous fiscal year. The

meetings took place prior to the meetings of the Board of Directors

regarding the approval of the Annual Report for the previous fiscal

year and the bi-annual report for the fiscal year ending December

31st 2007.

The following subjects were discussed:

• Audit Committee Charter;

• Corporate governance charter;

• Financial Report and Annual Report for the fiscal year ending

December 31st 2006;

• Bi-annual Account 2007;

• Application of International Accounting Standards (IFRS);

• Compliance to the investment rules as set out in article 41 of the

Royal Decree of April 18th 1997;

• Supervision of remunerations paid to companies that are profes-

sionally linked with the Auditor;

• Supervision on the application of the management agreement

between Quest for Growth and Quest Management and supervi-

sion of the general cost ratio;

• Supervision of the transaction costs for equity transactions.

Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler Bedrijfsrevisoren Burg. CV, rep-

resented by Mr Erik Clinck, has been appointed Statutory Auditor.

They are responsible for examining the financial figures, the Annual

Accounts and reviewing compliance of operations to be mentioned

in the Annual Accounts with the provisions of the Companies

Code, the provisions as set out in the Royal Decree of April 18th

1997 and the Articles of Association of the company.

Pursuant to the Annual General Meeting of March 15th 2007, the

Auditors will receive an annual remuneration of €20,000. The audi-

tors have been appointed for a period of three years, expiring at the

end of the Annual Meeting for the financial year ending December

31th 2009.


Chairman Auxilium Keerbergen BVBA (1) represented by Frans Theeuwes

Bergendal & CO SPRL (1) represented by Count Diego du Monceau de Bergendal

Tacan BVBA represented by Johan Tack

Gengest BVBA (1) (2) represented by Rudi Mariën

(1) Independent director(2) Gengest BVBA was a member of the audit comittee until January 15th 2007.


RATIOS

1/01/2007 1/01/2006 1/07/2005 1/07/2004 1/07/2003

31/12/2007 31/12/2006 31/12/2005 30/06/2005 30/06/2004

Balance sheet and results (in €)

Net profit 620,575 21,535,923 7,251,679 4,599,561 12,774,675

Ordinary dividend 600,394 18,191,040 6,528,758 0 0

Total dividend 600,394 21,539,468 7,247,322 0 0

Net asset value (N.A.V.) after profit distribution 115,769,735 95,943,007 95,946,533 63,597,611 58,998,051

Financial Assets (shares and receivables) 108,892,469 105,699,790 95,044,717 62,723,501 52,151,667

Cash at bank and in hand and term deposits 5,464,683 10,496,328 8,143,761 264,071 6,413,125

Total Assets 116,499,094 117,565,641 103,657,450 63,772,041 59,067,921

Numbers per ordinary share (in €) *

Profit per share 0.05 2.28 0.77 0.85 2.36

Gross dividend per share 0.05 1.95 0.69 0.00 0.00

Net dividend per share 0.05 1.93 0.68 0.00 0.00

NAV per share before profit distribution 9.87 12.42 10.91 11.74 10.89

NAV per share after profit distribution 9.82 10.14 10.14 11.74 10.89

Stock information

Share price at year end (€) 8.40 10.00 8.88 7.90 7.40

Total number of outstanding shares 11,789,255 9,459,073 9,459,073 5,416,000 5,416,000

Number of bought-in shares 202,715 118,745 0 0 0

Number of warrants 0 0 0 5,416,000 5,416,000

Stock market volume in shares 2,602,358 2,455,440 1,715,604 726,886 995,413

Stock market volume (€1000) 26,213 22,926 14,388 5,460 6,619

Return NAV ** 1.8 % 22.4 % 10.3 % 7.8 % 27.7 %

Net return on equity (with regard to share price at year end) 0.6 % 19.3 % 7.7 % 0.0 % 0.0 %

Pay-out ratio 96.7 % 100.0 % 99.9 % 0.0 % 0.0 %

Discount share price at year end with regard to NAV 14.9 % 19.5 % 18.6 % 32.7 % 32.1 %* calculated with total number of outstanding shares at year end, including bought-in shares.

** NAV return after profit distribution, taking into account capital increases (time weighted rate of return)


STOCK PRICE

7

8

9

10

11

12EURO

VOLUME

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

KEY FACTS

1/1/2007 -31/12/2007

1/1/2006 -31/12/2006

1/7/2005 -31/12/2005

1/7/2004 –30/6/2005

1/7/2003 –30/6/2004

6 months

Net profit / loss: 620,575 21,535,923 7,251,679 4,599,561 12,774,675

Net profit / loss per share: 0.05 2.28 0.77 0.85 2.36

Ordinary dividend: 600,394 18,191,040 6,528,758 0 0

Dividend to A and B shares: 0 3,348,428 718,564 0 0

Profit / loss carried forward: 20,993 812 4,357 (53,629,955) (58,229,516)

Ordinary dividend per share (before withholding taxes): 0.05 1.95 0.69 0 0

Ordinary dividend per share (after withholding taxes): 0.05 1.93 0.68 0 0

31 December

2007

31December

2006

31 December

2005

30 June 2005

30June 2004

Net asset value (NAV) after profit distribution: 115,769,735(1) 95,943,007 95,946,553(2) 63,597,611 58,998,051

NAV / share after profit distribution: 9.82 10.14 10.14 11.74 10.89

Stock Price / share: 8.40 10.00 8.88 7.90 7.40

Warrant Price: - - - 0.14 0.65

Number of Shares: 11,789,255 9,459,073 9,459,073 5,416,000 5,416,000

Number of Warrants: - - - 5,416,000 5,416,000

(1) Capital increase (+ €19,806,547 or 2,330,182 shares at €8.50 per share on April 30th 2007)

(2) Capital increase (+ €32,344,584 or 4,043,073 shares at €8.00 per share on November 10th 2005)


Investments in quoted companies

1. Equity markets

The 2007 financial year can be looked back on as a year of two con-

trasting halves. The first six months saw the positive trend of the pre-

vious years continue. However, the stock market sentiment changed

from the summer onwards and in the US, problems in the so-called

sub-prime area escalated - these are (mortgage) loans issued to

people with poor credit quality. The resulting credit crisis, which af-

fected major parts of the financial sector, will go down in history as

the sub-prime crisis. In Europe, the year performance for stock mar-

kets was around zero (DJ STOXX 600 index +0 %), while the

American stock markets achieved a positive return in dollars (S&P500

index +4 %), but the result is negative if converted into euro.

Growth and technology shares did quite well. With an almost 10 %

increase (in dollars) the NASDAQ Composite index (an indicator of

American growth shares) outperformed the S&P 500 index for the

first time since 2003. On the other hand, the positive trend for small

and mid caps, which make up the majority of the quoted share port-

folio of Quest for Growth, came to an end. As an example, the

Euronext Next Economy index dropped by 9 %. Quest for Growth’s

quoted share portfolio was able to achieve a slight positive return and

the six shares predominantly contributing to this were EVS, D+S

Europe, TomTom, Smartrac, Corin Group and Umicore.

Stock markets are by definition hard to predict, but there is extremely

low visibility at the start of 2008 with the economic climate particular-

ly uncertain. Present indicators such as the ISM Manufacturing index

suggest an economic deceleration in the USA and it will become

clearer in the following months if the US economy will hit a recession.

Company profits, which strongly increased during the past few years,

will be impacted by such a recession and it may well be that the pre-

dictions of company profit growth for 2008 (estimated by analysts at

approximately 15 % average profit growth in the USA and approxi-

mately 10 % profit growth in Europe) are too ambitious, in turn affect-

ing stock markets. The common belief that emerging markets should

help to compensate for the US weakness could diminish as share

prices in these emerging countries are also often overvalued. What

is positive, among other things, is that valuations in the USA and

Europe are not too high. This is in stark contrast to the situation at the

start of the previous recession in 2001, when American and European

shares quoted at an average price/earnings ratio of over 20 (see chart

“12 m trailing P/E for S&P 500 and DJ Stoxx 600”).

The technology sector is still valued at a premium vis-à-vis the mar-

ket. This reflects the sector’s higher growth expectations. A profit

growth of approximately 20 % is expected for the sector for 2008. In

the case of a major economic recession, these estimates are also too

high and disappointments can be expected. On the bright side, we

can state that the IT sector, again in contrast with the previous reces-

sion, is not coming from a period of over investment (see chart “tech-

nology equipment spending as % of US GDP”).

2. Sector developments

2.1. SoftwareSoftware appears to be one of the sub-sectors in the technology

sector offering interesting perspectives. Valuations have also

dropped in this sector due to concerns regarding the impact of an

economic recession on the investments in software. However, we

should note that most software companies receive a major propor-

tion of their turnover from recurring maintenance contracts. An

analysis shows that investments in software in the USA usually con-

tinue to grow during an economic recession. Only during the previ-

ous recession - which followed the technology bubble – did the

software sector show a strong cyclical pattern (see chart “US invest-

ment on software vs. GDP growth”). Stock selection is focused on

high quality small and medium-sized players, where the shares are

valued at a lower valuation than major players in the sector. At the

end of 2007, Unit 4 Agresso was valued at an expected

price/earnings ratio of less than 15 and the price/earnings ratio of

Nemetschek is just slightly above 10. These are attractive valuations

compared to blue chips such as SAP and Microsoft, where the

same ratio is almost 19.

2.2. IT servicesIT services and consulting can be regarded as a very cyclical seg-

ment of the technology sector. The already relatively low weighting

of this segment in the portfolio was further reduced in 2007 and by

the year end only the Dutch Ordina was represented in the portfo-

lio. On the other hand, the theme of internet services and e-com-

merce continues to offer interesting perspectives and investments

in this area include Wirecard and Unibet.

2.3. Technology HardwareThree of the four largest European technology companies can be

found in the telecom equipment segment. What is striking is the

extremely contrasting performance of these stocks: Nokia per-

formed brilliantly (+75 %), while Ericsson (-44 %) and Alcatel (-54 %)

experienced a very poor stock market performance in 2007. No in-

vestments have been made in any of these three stocks during the

past year. In January 2007, Quest for Growth sold the last shares of

the Leuven-based data card producer Option at 12.60 euro. Prior to

2007, Option contributed strongly to the performance of Quest for

Growth. However, internal and competitive problems accumulated

during the course of 2007 and consequently the stocks became one

of the disappointing performers on the Brussels stock market.

Several other segments or themes within technology hardware con-

INVESTMENT MANAGERS REPORT

tinue to be attractive. For example, television market developments,

such as the arrival of digital TV and high definition picture signals

(HDTV), remain major growth factors for suppliers such as EVS

(and Vizrt in software). In the navigation segment, TomTom was a

great highlight regarding performance, but the shares were sold to-

wards the end of the year on valuation grounds. Transics, active in

the related field of telematics, appeared in the quoted shares port-

folio after the IPO in June. Players active in the graphics market,

represented in the portfolio by Technotrans and Punch Graphix,

didn’t really have a good year, but the well known Drupa trade fair

could provide an improvement in 2008. Metris represents an in-

vestment in the growing metrology market, which involves the

measurement of industrial components and products, for example

in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

2.4. SemiconductorsIn 2007, the Philadelphia Semiconductor or SOX index, which is

considered to be representative of the semiconductor sector,

dropped by approximately 13 % (in dollars), therefore performing

much less effectively than the rest of the technology sector. The

worldwide sales of chips grew by less than 5 % to approximately

250 billion dollars during the year, partly due to continuous price

pressure on memory chips. The sales of equipment for the produc-

tion of semiconductors rose an estimated 3 % to over 40 billion dol-

lars, although a decline in this market is expected for 2008. Quest

for Growth mainly invests in several specific growth companies in

the sector, such as Icos Vision Systems and Smartrac. Icos should

obtain strong growth from tapping into new markets, such as the

inspection of wafers and solar cells. Smartrac is benefiting from the

strong growth of RFID technology applications in - amongst other

things - passports.

2.5. TelecommunicationsWith an increase of approximately 15 %, the telecom sector proved

to be one of the performers in the European stock markets during

2007. This good performance was due to the low valuations in the

sector at the start of the year and the increasing interest of investors

in defensive sectors during the second half of the year. Growth is

more difficult to find in this sector, which is why the significance of

telecom services has been further decreased in the portfolio -

Vodafone was sold and only Mobistar was retained. D+S Europe is

not only active as a specialised telecom company (for example

service numbers), but it is also active in communication centres and

e-commerce. The three activities can be labelled as clear growth

markets.

2.6. Medical equipment and servicesAlmost all major “medtech” shares in Europe (Synthes, Nobel,

Essilor, Sonovo, William Demant, Getinge and Coloplast) dropped

during 2007. As a result, the expected price/earnings ratio of the


US INVESTMENT ON SOFTWARE VS GDP GROWTH

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

197

0 1

972

197

4 1

976

197

8 1

980

198

2 1

984

198

6 1

988

199

0 1

992

199

4 1

996

199

8 2

000

200

2 2

004

200

6

US GDP yoy % US private investment on software yoy %

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Quest Management.

TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT SPENDING AS % OF US GDP

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

197

0 1

972

197

4 1

976

197

8 1

980

198

2 1

984

198

6 1

988

199

0 1

992

199

4 1

996

199

8 2

000

200

2 2

004

200

6

US private investment on information processing equipment and software as % GDP

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Lehman Brothers, Quest Management

12 M TRAILING P/E FOR S&P 500 INDEX AND DJ STOXX 600 INDEX

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

S&P 500 (US) DJ Stoxx 600 (Europe)

P/E at 1/1/2001 :S&P 500 : 23DJStoxx600 : 22

P/E 1/1/2008 :S&P 500 : 16.6DJStoxx600 : 13.4

Source: Factset, Quest Management


sector decreased from approximately 24 to 21. Smith & Nephew

was the only larger European companies to escape the drop, thanks

to amongst other factors the growth of a new orthopaedic product -

the so-called Birmingham Hip Resurfacing prosthesis. Quest for

Growth invests in Corin Group, which launched a competitive

product on the US market with its US partner at the end of the year.

The potential for the product seems great and the value of Corin

already anticipated this with an increase of almost 90 % in pounds

sterling. In Belgium, companies like Agfa Gevaert (-44 %) and

Omega Pharma (-35 %) again proved greatly disappointing.

The position of Quest for Growth in Omega Pharma was strongly

reduced and we did not invest in Agfa-Gevaert.

2.7. Pharma & biotech2007 was once again a weak year for the pharmaceutical sector.

The valuations seem interesting, but the sector is still dealing with

several structural challenges. Biotechnology experienced extremely

tough times on the European stock markets. This was mainly the

case for small cap biotechnology stocks in Europe that dropped on

average by more than 30 %. There were several major product de-

velopment disappointments including GPC Biotech, Vernalis, Paion,

Pharming, Innogenetics and UCB. However, there was also plenty

of positive news concerning clinical trials or licensing agreements.

The diagram shows the average impact on the daily and annual per-

formance of such news. What is also striking is that biotechnology

companies that were able to report positive news were only able to

gain relatively little. For example, the German Wilex, in which

Quest for Growth holds a significant interest, dropped by 51 % over

the entire year. This was despite positive news regarding the main

product in development. Apart from a selection of six small quoted

biotechnology companies, which together make up approximately

4 % of net asset value, Quest for Growth is also investing in Omrix

and Alapis. Omrix is a profitable biopharmaceutical company and

Alapis is a company that aims to play a strong active role in the con-

solidation of the Greek pharmaceutical market.

2.8. Other sectorsIn other sectors, Quest for Growth is investing more and more

in clean technology or cleantech, something that is often confused

with renewable energy. Increasing investor interest led to strongly

increased valuations of companies active in solar and wind energy.

Other areas that can be considered as cleantech are energy effi-

ciency, environmental and water management and material tech -

nology and more attractively valued companies can be found in

these sectors. LEM Holding, which manufactures electronic compo-

nents and is therefore categorised under the technology hardware

sector, is focussing on the need for more energy efficiency. In envi-

ronmental services, Quest for Growth is investing in Arcadis, an

engineering company that accounts for approximately half its

turnover in the environmental and water sector. Material technolo-

QUOTED PORTFOLIO - TOP 10 HOLDINGS

country sector/activity% NAV

31/12/07

Unit 4 Agresso Netherlands business software 3.8%

Omrix US biosurgical and immonology products 3.6%

Umicore Belgium materials technology 3.4%

Icos Vision Syst. Belgium inspection systems for the semiconductor industry 3.4%

D+S Europe Germany customer management services outsourcing 3.2%

Unibet Malta online gambling 2.6%

EVS Belgium digital image-processing systems for TV broadcasters 2.6%

Alapis Greece human health, veterinary prod., detergents & cosmetics 2.6%

Philips Netherlands healthcare, lighting, consumer electronics & appliances 2.5%

Smartrac Germany RFID inlays 2.2%

Source: Quest Management

NEWS FLOW EFFECT EUROPEAN BIOTECH COMPANIES

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

good news bad news

Sh

are

pri

ce c

han

ge (

%)

on day year

gy is invested in via Umicore (car catalysts and recycling of precious

metals) and Ten Cate (composite and geosynthetic materials).

Investments in unquoted companies and venture funds

European Venture Capital Market

The amount of disclosed venture capital invested in companies in

Europe reduced to €5.27 billion in 2007, representing a decrease

of 6.6 per cent from the €5.64 billion invested in 2006 (Source:

Library House). For the fourth quarter of 2007, the investment

amount was €1.21 billion, compared to €1.36 billion invested in

the previous quarter and the €1.52 billion invested in Q4 2006.

With regards to exits, a total of 202 European venture-backed

companies were acquired during 2007. The second half of the

year proved weaker than the first, resulting in 70 trade sales as

compared to 132 in the first half. (Source: Library House) A total of

38 venture-backed European companies completed IPOs in 2007,

raising €893.6 million. This is down 49 % from 2006, which saw

€1.74 billion raised through 89 venture-backed IPOs (Source:

European Liquidity Report, Dow Jones VentureSource). However,

the markets saw good value in European IPO companies, as the

median amount raised at IPO approached €15.8 million in 2007 - a

six-year high. Likewise, the median pre-valuation for these

companies reached €59.2 million, the highest since 2000.

Update on Quest for Growth’s unquoted portfolio

During 2007, Quest for Growth invested in seven new private com-

panies, three of which are in the technology space sector and four

in the life sciences area. It also completed one follow-on investment

in the portfolio company Clear2Pay.

Technology

MAPPERAt the end of May, Quest for Growth announced it first new tech-

nology investment of 2007 in MAPPER Lithography. MAPPER

Lithography is a spin-off company of the University of Delft that

was set up in 2000. The company focuses on the development

and manufacturing of a new and highly competitive maskless

lithography machine for advanced chip manufacturing. This

combines massively-parallel electron-beam writing with high

speed optical data transport used in the telecommunication

industry. This is a truly disruptive technology, which if successful

will have a great impact on the entire lithography market.

GEMIDISShortly after June, Quest for Growth invested a further €2 million

into Gemidis, a private LCOS display company that was spun out of

the University of Ghent and Imec. Quest for Growth joined other

Belgian investors such as GIMV, Fortis Private Equity and Baekeland

Fonds. Gemidis develops, produces and sells LCOS imagers and

driver electronics for both consumer and professional markets.

The main benefits of the Gemidis chips are high contrast, smooth

and truthful grey scales and an indefinite number of colours.

CERTESSFinally, December saw Quest for Growth add a further private tech

company to its unquoted portfolio with an investment in Certess.

This is an electronic design automation (EDA) company focussing

on developing breakthrough technology to perform functional qual-

ification for system-on-chip (SoC) designs and intellectual property

(IP) blocks. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquar-

tered in California, although all of its R&D is based in Grenoble,

France. The company is being led by Mr. Michel Courtoy, a Belgian

native with a long international track record in the EDA industry.

CLEAR2PAYQuest for Growth also continues to support promising companies

in its portfolio. In 2007, the Fund made an additional €500,000

investment into its portfolio company Clear2Pay. This has been

gaining much positive commercial momentum over the past year

and is further consolidating its growth through focused acquisitions

to strengthen its client offering. In 2007, Clear2Pay acquired the

Belgian company Integri as well as the French player Diagram EDI.

Clear2Pay’s core strategy is offering an end-to-end payments trans-

action environment.

Biotechnology

KIADISIn June, Quest for Growth completed an investment of €2 Million

as part of a total funding of €15 million in Kiadis Pharma NV,

a Dutch-Canadian oncology company, joining founding investor

LSP, Alta Partners, MedSciences Capital, Esprit Capital Partners LLP

and N.V. NOM.

Kiadis Pharma is a dedicated oncology product development com-

pany, with four proprietary products in various stages of clinical de-

velopment. The Kiadis Pharma product pipeline focuses on provid-

ing novel treatments for high, unmet medical needs in the field of

bone marrow transplants and the treatment of aggressive cancers.

The four most advanced products are ATIR, PURGE, ECP and

NB1011.



The lead product, ATIR, provides blood cancer patients without a

matched donor access to life-saving bone marrow transplantation.

Purge, a product for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, validates the poten-

tial of other products from the Theralux™ technology platform, such

as ATIR. Clinical trials on over 40 patients proved the efficiency and

safety of Purge and provide over five years of clinical patient data.

ECP aims to treat cancer patients who develop unresponsive and

resistant chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease (“cGvHD”) after trans-

plantation. ECP resets the immune system by the selective elimina-

tion of the cells that cause the disease. Furthermore, the product

could be launched for other autoimmune diseases, of which severe

scleroderma - a debilitating medical condition - can be the first

indication.

NB1011 specifically targets aggressive solid tumours that express a

high level of an endogenous enzyme, Thymidylate Synthase (TS)

and do not respond to current available treatments.

SYNTAXINIn October 2007, Quest for Growth completed an investment of

£ 1.5 million as part of a total funding of £ 16 million in Syntaxin, a

UK based drug development company joining founding investor

Abingworth and Life Science Partners, SR-One (GSK) and Johnson

& Johnson Development Company.

Syntaxin Ltd is a newly formed biopharmaceutical company focus-

ing on the discovery and development of new medicines derived

from bacterial toxins to treat chronic diseases. The company was

created in 2005 as a spin out from the UK Health Protection

Agency. The company’s product pipeline is based on exploiting the

potent pharmacological properties of some microbial proteins,

notably exotoxins. The best known of these are the botulinum

toxins, which cause a prolonged block to neurotransmission by

cholinergic nerves. By changing the cell-targeting specificity of

these molecules, Syntaxin will develop long-lasting medicines to

block cell secretion in a range of cell types to treat chronic pain,

respiratory and metabolic diseases.

PROSONIXIn November 2007 Quest for Growth completed an investment of

£ 1,083,322 as part of a total funding of £ 5 million in Prosonix ltd,

a leading ultrasonic particle engineering and process chemistry

solution provider for the pharmaceutical and related industries.

Quest for Growth joined Solon Ventures, (London, UK) and The

Entrepreneurs Fund (Amsterdam, Netherlands) as new investors

in the company.

Prosonix, based in Oxford (UK), is a world leader in the commer-

cialisation of proprietary added value ultrasonic process solutions.

Prosonix has a unique multidisciplinary approach to solving its cus-

tomers complex particle combination problems, leveraging its pro-

prietary intellectual property and patented bespoke sonoprocessing

equipment for cost effective mutual advantage. Prosonix core mar-

kets to date are Pharmaceuticals and Minerals Processing, where

they employ their technology for the Complete Crystallization

Control ™ of customer's products, processes and unit operations.

Prosonix also has a growing number of strategic partnerships with

a range of leading academic institutions and technology partners,

placing them firmly at the cutting edge of the next generation of

commercial scale ultrasonic process intensification solutions.

TcLAND EXPRESSIONIn December 2007, Quest for Growth made an investment of

€750,000 as part of a total investment of €1,500,000 in TcLand

Expression, a company developing gene expression biomarkers

for transplantation and auto-immune diseases. Quest for Growth is

investing €1,500,000 as part of a €8.2 million Series A financing

round, which was led by Auriga Partners (Paris, France) with addi-

tional participation from Beviguen (Paris, France), Debiopharm

(Lausanne, Switzerland) and Genzyme Corporation (Boston, USA).

TcLand Expression was incorporated in 2002 as a spin-off from

INSERM/ITERT in Nantes, France, a major European research and

clinical centre in transplantation and immunology. Currently, the

company is a leader in the development of gene expression bio-

markers in transplantation and auto-immune disorders. TcLand

Expression recently spun out its therapeutic activities into an inde-

pendent company, TcLand Pharma SAS.

Exits

In 2007, Quest for Growth exited successfully one private technolo-

gy investment. In June, the French smartcard software company

Welcome Real-Time was acquired by AXA Private Equity. Quest for

Growth had invested in Welcome Real-Time for two years and

made a healthy three times cash return on the transaction.

Fund investments

CETPSome interesting exits can also be noted in regard to funds. CETP

(Carlyle Europe Technology Partners) showed its first exit with the

acquisition of NP Aerospace by Morgan Crucible. NP Aerospace,

based in Coventry, is one of Europe’s largest suppliers of specialist

composite mouldings to the aerospace, medical imaging, automo-

tive and defence industries and was acquired by The Carlyle Group

in November 2005.

CETP also had one IPO in its portfolio with the listing of the Belgian

Transics. This is a major European provider of on-board computers

and fleet management solutions for the transport and logistics sec-

tor. Quest for Growth has a stake in Transics both indirectly through

CETP as well as directly as a co-investment. Transics then trans-

ferred to Quest for Growth quoted portfolio, where from now on it

is being monitored by Quest’s Investment Manager for quoted

companies, exploiting Quest’s ability to invest in both unquoted

and quoted companies.

The French fund Ventech II, which is in contrast to CETP an early

stage investor, also had a major exit event. The NASDAQ quoted

company Amgen acquired Alantos Pharmaceuticals for $300 million

in cash, delivering a very nice 5.5 multiple.

VERTEX IIIOn the investment side, Vertex III was very active, being still early in

its fund cycle and in full investment mode in 2007. Vertex III now

has more than ten companies in its portfolio, the vast majority of

which are IP heavy start-ups from Israel. The climate for venture in-

vesting in Israel remains very promising. In Q3-07, approximately

$350 million was invested in Israel in 74 high-tech companies

backed by venture capital funds.


NUMBER OF EUROPEAN VC DEALS IN 2007 PER SUBSECTOR

Source: DowJones VentureSource

NUMBER OF EUROPEAN VC DEALS IN 2007 PER COUNTRY

34

1111

19202122

3034

4144

107234

257

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Luxembourg Italy

Ireland Austria Norway Belgium

Spain Finland

Switzerland Netherlands

Denmark Sweden

Germany France

United Kingdom

Source: DowJones VentureSource

MAPPER LITHOGRAPHY

Source: Mapper Lithography


Holdings at December 31st 2007Company Sector/Market Number of shares Changes since

31/12/2006Currency Share price Valuation in € In % of Net

Asset Value

Quoted companies SoftwareGLOBAL GRAPHICS Euronext Brussels 129,955 -15,090 € 4.81 625,084 0.54 %MAMUT (1) Oslo 797,000 297,000 NOK 16.00 1,602,413 1.38 %NEMETSCHEK Deutsche Börse 115,000 110,500 € 21.55 2,478,250 2.13 %PERSONAL & INFORMATIK Deutsche Börse 53,900 53,900 € 20.78 1,120,042 0.96 %REAL SOFTWARE Euronext Brussels 2,000,000 2,000,000 € 0.39 780,000 0.67 %TELE ATLAS Euronext Amsterdam 60,000 60,000 € 28.15 1,689,000 1.45 %UNIT 4 AGRESSO Euronext Amsterdam 225,550 -15,164 € 19.50 4,398,225 3.78 %VIZRT Deutsche Börse 359,829 247,981 € 4.66 1,676,803 1.44 %

IT-servicesBINCKBANK NV Euronext Amsterdam 75,000 -80,806 € 10.11 758,250 0.65 %ORDINA Euronext Amsterdam 160,000 160,000 € 12.20 1,952,000 1.68 %UNIBET Stockholm 130,000 -31,500 SEK 223.00 3,070,487 2.64 %WIRECARD Deutsche Börse 150,000 150,000 € 11.56 1,734,000 1.49 %

Technology HardwareEVS BROADCAST EQUIPM. Euronext Brussels 38,223 -41,810 € 79.60 3,042,551 2.61 %LEM Holding SWX Swiss Exchange 9,000 9,000 CHF 320.00 1,740,497 1.50 %METRIS (1) Euronext Brussel 145,000 -26,429 € 13.25 1,921,250 1.65 %PHILIPS KON. Euronext Amsterdam 100,000 0 € 29.52 2,952,000 2.54 %PUNCH GRAPHIX Euronext Amsterdam 380,000 380,000 € 5.70 2,166,000 1.86 %TECHNOTRANS Deutsche Börse 105,000 39,142 € 17.00 1,785,000 1.53 %TKH GROUP Euronext Amsterdam 163,463 102,601 € 14.96 2,445,406 2.10 %TRANSICS Euronext Brussels 125,000 125,000 € 17.53 2,191,250 1.88 %

SemiconductorsASM International Euronext Amsterdam 100,022 500 € 16.75 1,675,369 1.44%ICOS VISION SYSTEMS Euronext Brussels 130,000 30,999 € 30.45 3,958,500 3.40%MELEXIS Euronext Brussels 164,736 164,736 € 11.15 1,836,806 1.58%SMARTRAC Deutsche Börse 70,080 70,080 € 37.30 2,613,984 2.25%

TelecommunicationD+S Europe Deutsche Börse 300,000 -25,000 € 12.33 3,699,000 3.18 %MOBISTAR Euronext Brussels 39,954 10,000 € 62.25 2,487,137 2.14 %

Pharma & BiotechABLYNX Euronext Brussels 62,500 62,500 € 7.00 437,500 0.38 %ALAPIS Athens 1,300,000 1,300,000 € 2.33 3,029,000 2.60 %ANTISOMA London 1,050,000 -50,000 £ 0.2475 354,367 0.30 %ARK THERAPEUTICS London 526,373 -278,252 £ 0.9375 672,905 0.58 %FORNIX BIOSCIENCES Euronext Amsterdam 80,189 -9,334 € 18.80 1,507,553 1.30 %IMMUPHARMA London 500,000 500,000 £ 0.70 477,262 0.41 %OMRIX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS (1) Nasdaq 178,670 -6,510 $ 34.74 4,216,423 3.62 %PLETHORA SOLUTIONS (1) Aim 501,406 -100,000 £ 0.78 533,302 0.46 %WILEX (1) Deutsche Börse 267,856 -22,000 € 6.82 1,826,778 1.57 %

Health Care Equipment & ServicesCORIN GROUP London 265,030 104,454 £ 5.4550 1,971,417 1.69 %OMEGA PHARMA Euronext Brussels 30,000 -25,000 € 47.70 1,431,000 1.23 %

Funds and diversified companiesDCC Dublin 80,000 0 € 19.2720 1,541,760 1.32 %

Other sectorsARCADIS Euronext Amsterdam 40,000 40,000 € 47.30 1,892,000 1.63 %TEN CATE KONINKLIJKE Euronext Amsterdam 70,024 -46,616 € 21.27 1,489,410 1.28 %UMICORE Euronext Brussels 23,500 6,500 € 170.00 3,995,000 3.43 %

70.27 %Unquoted companies (4)CERTESS Software $ 679,302 0.58 %CLEAR2PAY Software € 3,703,056 3.18 %COREOPTICS Technology Hardware $ 1,018,953 0.88 %GEMIDIS Technology Hardware € 1,999,999 1.72 %IDEA AG Pharma & Biotech € 1,034,570 0.89 %KIADIS PHARMA Pharma & Biotech € 1,999,952 1.72 %KIMOTION Technologies Software € 430,000 0.37 %MOVETIS Pharma & Biotech € 2,500,220 2.15 %OXAGEN Ltd. Pharma & Biotech £ 5,698 0.00 %PLASTIC LOGIC Technology Hardware £ 843,162 0.72 %PROSONIX Pharma & Biotech £ 1,477,239 1.27 %SYNTAXIN Pharma & Biotech £ 2,045,408 1.76 %TC LAND EXPRESSION Pharma & Biotech € 749,997 0.64 %TRIGEN Holdings AG Pharma & Biotech € 2,624,287 2.26 %Loan notes Face valueCONCEPT GROUP IT-Services 190,232 £ 259,401 0.22 %MAPPER Convertible Semiconductors 605,000 € 605,000 0.52 %WarrantsMetris Technology Hardware € 308,762 0.27 %OptionsOMRIX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS Pharma & Biotech $ 66,310 0.06 %

19.21 %Venture Funds Last valuation (2)CARLYLE EUROPE TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS I

Funds & Diversified companies € 30/09/2007 2,152,388 1.85 %

CARLYLE EUROPE TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS II

Funds & Diversified companies € 30/09/2007 400 0.00 %

CETP LP Co-investment Funds & Diversified companies € 30/09/2007 1,022,524 0.88 %KIWI I VENTURA SERVICOS Funds & Diversified companies € 30/09/2007 93,960 0.08 %LIFE SCIENCES PARTNERS III Funds & Diversified companies € 30/09/2007 1,352,461 1.16 %SCHRODER VENTURES LSF II Funds & Diversified companies $ 30/06/2007 372,273 0.32 %VENTECH CAPITAL 2 Funds & Diversified companies € 30/09/2007 1,125,280 0.97 %VERTEX III Funds & Diversified companies $ 30/09/2007 596,887 0.51 %

5.77 %Total invested 110,842,469 95.25 %

Cash 5,464,683 4.70 %Other net assets (3) Number of shares 310,172 0.27 %Quest for Growth ordinary shares 202,715 1,702,806 1.46 %Depreciation unquoted companies -1,950,000 -1.68 %TOTAL 116,370,130 100.00 %(1) Mamut, Metris, Omrix Biopharmaceuticals, Plethora Solutions and Wilex are quoted companies, but are considered as unquoted companies for the privak investment restrictions according to article 41 of the

Royal Decree of 1997.(2) Valuation based on the last report of the directors of the Venture Fund. (audited or not).(3) Other net assets include formation expenses, unsettled trades, amounts receivable, amounts payable, deferred charges and accrued income, accrued charges and deferred income.(4) Angiosonics, Easdaq and Phytera are still part of the portfolio but have no residual value.A list of all transactions during the year is available on request from the company’s offices.

PORTFOLIO


DISTRIBUTION OF THE INVESTED PART OF THE PORTFOLIO BY SECTOR

Pharma & Biotech

Technology Hardware

Software

Semiconductors

Funds & Diversified Companies

IT Services

Other sectors

Telecommunications

Health Care Equipment & Services

DISTRIBUTION OF THE INVESTED PART OF THE PORTFOLIO BY STOCK MARKET

Euronext Amsterdam

Unquoted

Euronext Brussels

Deutsche Börse

Quoted - Unquoted

Venture Funds

London

Stockholm

Athens

SWX Swiss Exchange

Dublin

Loan notes

Unquoted Warrants

Unquoted Options

DISTRIBUTION OF THE INVESTED PART OF THE PORTFOLIO BY COUNTRY

Belgium

Netherlands

Germany

United Kingdom

US

Malta

Greece

France

Israël

Switzerland

Norway

Ireland

Portugal


Clear2Pay is an innovative financial tech-nology company that focuses on deliveringglobally applicable solutions for secure,timely electronic payments.Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, thecompany facilitates banks and financial organisations in their provision of pay-ments services. Clear2Pay's technologyhelps to reduce transactions processingcosts and to deliver new, compelling pay-ment ser vices in a competitive manner.Clear2Pay's payment solutions offer organi-sations easy, branded ways for their cus-tomers to pay online - from complex trade-supporting business-to-business environ-ments, through e-commerce applicationsto retail payments and remittance services.Functions embrace payments origination,reporting, linkage with back-office pro-cessing systems, clearing, netting and settlement. Clients include such global andmajor regional financial institutions as ING,VISA, MasterCard, ABN AMRO, Nordea,Abbey National, Fortis Bank, ANZ andCommonwealth Bank. Clear2Pay operatesout of Belgium, France, the Netherlands,Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, UnitedStates, Australia, China, Malaysia andSingapore and currently employs 340 staff.Further information is available atwww.clear2pay.com.

Concept Group Holdings is the holdingcompany of Concept Group International,a company specialising in automotive andproduct design - from concept sketchesright through to production-ready proto-types. Concept Group is based inCoventry (UK) and occupies two facilitiesthat total over 3,250 m2. The company uses the latest technology to ensure that imaginative thinking can be realised in feasible products. Concept Group believesin a highly measured and coordinatedbuild programme, a process which isachieved by unhindered interaction be-tween departments and the transition ofcompatible data enabled by ConceptGroup’s technology and software.Concept Group has been able to demon-strate that their in-house developedprocesses, software and hardware can deliver considerable time and cost savingsto their clients. The company has built successful prototypes such as the JaguarRD6 and the Cadillac Cien (2002 DetroitCar of the Year Winner).During 2006, Quest for Growth’s convert-ible loan to Concept Group was renegotiat-ed and is currently being repaid accordingto the newly agreed upon repaymentschedule.

COMPANY PROFILESUnquoted companies

Certess, Inc. is the only electronic designautomation company providing functionalqualification products for companies creat-ing and integrating complex design blocksor intellectual property (IP). The compa-ny’s technology provides design and verifi-cation engineers with an objective meansof evaluating and improving the complete-ness of the verification environment, re-sulting in a shorter and more predictableprocess to integrate SoC designs and en-sure high quality designs. The companywas founded in 2003 and is headquarteredin Campbell, California with R&D based inGrenoble, France. For additional informa-tion, you can visit www.certess.com


Founded in 1993 from the TechnicalUniversity of Munich, IDEA is a product-oriented company. The Company is located in the Munich Technology Centreand employs circa 45 highly motivated and skilled people from different nationali-ties. IDEA is backed by top-tier Europeanand US investors and the basis of their proprietary technology is a bio-compatible,highly deformable and self-regulating, water based agent carrier calledTransfersome®. The Company developednew product candidates based on suchcarriers of which several are in phase I andPhase III clinical trials; the current focus ison dermatological and pain therapeutics.IDEA is testing in the clinic Transfersome®

formulations for the targeted transdermaldelivery of steroidal or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) for improvedsafety and higher specificity throughTransfersome® mediated delivery.

Gemidis develops, produces and sells LCOS imagers and driver electronics forboth consumer and professional markets.Gemidis aims to be the new benchmark inthe Micro Display Industry for cost-effec-tive LCOS imager production and remainscommitted to its horizontal business model of selling LCOS imagers and driverelectronics as a platform on which everycustomer may build their own applications.Gemidis has its headquarters in Ghent(Belgium) and its operational facilities inHsinchu (Taiwan), as well as having representatives in Japan. With more than35 highly skilled and motivated peoplewith experience in research groups andinternational companies, with expertise in IC design, VAN LC assembly, LCOS production, driver electronics and optics,Gemidis is able to address customer demands for a whole range of applications. Further information is available atwww.gemidis.be

CoreOptics - with operations inNuremberg, Germany and ManchesterNew Hampshire, USA - develops and manufactures subsystems for ultra high-speed optical networking applications inthe telecommunications and informationtechnology industries.CoreOptics current portfolio includes ad-vanced 10Gbps and 40Gbps transpondersfor Metropolitan, Regional and Long Hauloptical systems using DWDM, OTN,SONET/SDH, ATM and IP protocols. Thecompany was founded in January 2001and has received financing from leadingventure capital firms including T-Com,GIMV, Crescendo Ventures, TVM, HighTech Private Equity, Atila Ventures andQuest for Growth. The team comprisesover 95 highly skilled engineers with ex-tensive experience in RF and digital ASICdesign as well as optical systems, applica-tions and network architecture. Additionalinformation regarding CoreOptics can befound at www.CoreOptics.com.


MAPPER Lithography is a semiconductorequipment company in Delft, TheNetherlands. The company focuses onthe development and manufacturing of anew and highly competitive maskless li-thography machine (a wafer stepper) foradvanced chip manufacturing. The dis-ruptive MAPPER technology combinesadvanced telecom techniques withMEMS components. The MAPPER solu-tion combines thousands of electronbeams in parallel with high-speed opticaldata transport. By eliminating the use ofthe costly mask, MAPPER represents amajor breakthrough in lithography andenables a significant reduction in manu-facturing costs and time-to-market. Formore information, please refer towww.mapperlithography.com.

Kimotion helps circuit and system design-ers reduce the risk of respins caused byanalogue/mixed-signal integrated circuits.Leveraging analogue design testbenches,Kimotion's proprietary characterisation, optimisation and model generation tech-nology define a rigorous flow that enablesdesigners to make and verify their ana-logue/mixed-signal design across environ-ment and process variations, both on thecircuit and system level. Using Kimotionsoftware, circuit and system designers canreduce the design times of their analogueparts, reduce overdesign, and diminish therisk of respins when integrating this partonto their SOC. Kimotion was founded in May 2003 withtechnology based on more than 15 yearsof research and development headed byProf. Georges Gielen and Prof. WillySansen at the ESAT-MICAS laboratory ofK.U. Leuven, a world-leading laboratory inthe study and development of integratedcircuits and sensors with analog content.Further information can be found atwww.kimotion.com.

Kiadis Pharma is a company that develops cancer research products and its pipeline contains four of its own products in variousstages of clinical development.The pipeline of Kiadis Pharma is geared to thedelivery of new treatments for major medicalneeds where there has been no satisfactoryanswer in the field of bone marrow transplantsand the treatment of aggressive cancers. Thefour most advanced products in the pipelineare ATIR, PURGE, ECP and NB1011.ATIR, the most important product, enables alife-saving bone marrow transplant forleukaemia patients for whom there is no suit-able donor. Purge, a product for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, confirms the potential ofother products of the TheraluxTM technologyplatform, such as ATIR. Clinical tests, carriedout in over 40 patients, prove the effectivenessand safety of Purge and have generated overfive years of clinical patient data.ECP is a treatment for cancer patients who develop a resistant chronic graft-versus-hostreaction (cGvHD) after a transplant. ECP re-pairs the immune system through the selectiveelimination of the cells that cause the disease.Moreover, the product could be used for otherauto-immune illnesses, of which serious sclero-derma, a weakened health condition, can bethe first symptom.NB1011 is specifically intended for aggressivemassive tumours with a high level of an en-dogenous enzyme, Thymidylate Synthase (Ts),that do not respond to currently available treat-ments.


Plastic Logic is a leading developer ofplastic electronics – a new technology formanufacturing (or printing) electronics.The Plastic Logic approach solves thecritical issues in manufacturing high reso-lution transistor arrays on flexible plasticsubstrates by using a low temperatureprocess without mask alignment that is scaleable for large area, high volume andlow cost.This enables radical new product con-cepts in a wide range of applications including flexible displays and sensors.Independent experts from IDTechExforecast plastic electronics will be a $30 billion industry by 2015 and this figure could increase to $250 billion by2025.Plastic Logic has a team of more than 90 employees based in Cambridge,UK and Dresden, Germany. For further information, please refer towww.plasticlogic.com.

Oxagen is focused on becoming a significant biopharmaceutical company,developing a pipeline of novel drugs to treat inflammatory diseases. TheCompany has created a portfolio of valuable drug targets based on the highly attractive class of receptors,GPCRs. Through its experience in humangenetics, Oxagen has validated a numberof GPCR targets, many of which are novel and the most promising have been selected as drug targets.Oxagen was established in April 1997and initially focused on identifying drugtargets through genetics. Since 2003, theCompany has focused on building a drugdiscovery and development capabilityand pipeline around GPCR targets. TheCompany is based in Milton Park, southof Oxford, UK.

Movetis NV is a new Belgium based drug development company for Gastro-Intestinal products. Its goal is to create anindependent biopharmaceutical companybased on products and technologies licensed from Janssen Pharmaceutica NVand Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc.(both affiliates of Johnson & Johnson). Its portfolio comprises one product withphase III clinical data, one entering phaseII, two in phase I and four compounds inpre-clinical development and late stagediscovery. The Company's late-stage de-velopment candidate has completed threepositive pivotal trials in chronic constipa-tion and is targeted at a large group of patients that are currently not satisfactorilytreated with available laxatives. The otherproducts in development respectively ad-dress ascites, a severe accumulation of flu-id in the abdomen of patients with liver cir-rhosis; paediatric regurgitation, a frequent-ly occurring and often serious problem inyoung babies; diabetic gastroparesis andmore severe forms of dyspepsia. The com-pany will use the funds to complete thedevelopment and filing of its lead phase IIIcompound, continue clinical developmentof its other three products and move thefour additional products into pre-clinicaland phase I clinical development.


Trigen is a biopharmaceutical company, with operations in London and Munich. It isa leader in cardiovascular drug discoveryand development, focusing on thrombosisand vascular dysfunction. The company’sproduct pipeline includes clinical stage candidates, TGN 255 and PR-15, as well asan extensive portfolio of exciting preclinicaland discovery stage programmes targetingthrombosis, atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular pathologies.In addition, Trigen benefits from two established discovery platforms -SIGSCREEN® and THROMSCAN® - whichhave been applied in collaborations with anumber of multinational pharmaceuticalcompanies.

TTcLand Expression SA was incorporated in 2002 as a spin-off from INSERM/ITERT inNantes, France - a major European researchand clinical centre in transplantation and immunology. Currently, the company is a leader in the development of gene expres-sion biomarkers in transplantation and auto-immune disorders. TcLand Expressionrecently spun out its therapeutic activities into an independent company, TcLandPharma SAS.In December 2007 Quest for Growth madean investment of €750,000 as part of a totalinvestment of €1,500,000. Quest forGrowth will invest a total of €1,500,000 aspart of a €8.2 million Series A financinground, which was led by Auriga Partners(Paris, France) with additional participationfrom Beviguen (Paris, France), Debiopharm(Lausanne, Switzerland) and GenzymeCorporation (Boston, USA).

Syntaxin Ltd is a new biopharmaceuticalcompany that will focus on the researchand development of new drugs based onbacterial toxins for the treatment of chronic diseases. The company was set up in 2005 as a spin out of the UK HealthProtection Agency, with investments byAbingworth Management Ltd. Other investments are initial investor Abingworthand new investors Life Science Partners,SR-One (GSK) and Johnson & JohnsonDevelopment Company.The company’s pipeline is based on theoperation of powerful pharmaceuticalproperties of some bacterial proteins, particularly exotoxins. The best known exotoxins are botulinum toxins that causelong-term blockage of the neurotransmis-sion by cholinergic nerves. By altering thecell-oriented specificity of these molecules,Syntaxin aims to develop long-lastingdrugs to prevent cell secretion in a seriesof cell types for the treatment of chronicpain, respiratory and metabolic diseases.The technology, on which the pipeline ofSyntaxin is founded, is based on decadesof research at the Health ProtectionAgency in Porton Down. This research, the current research team and the existingportfolio of property rights was transferredby the HPA to Syntaxin on the establish-ment of the company.

Prosonix Ltd is world leader in the field of marketing registered value-added ultrasonic solutions.The company set up a team of chemistsand engineers in Oxford (UK), hence offering its customers a unique multi -disciplinary angle to solve complex prob-lems. All parties benefit from the intellec-tual property rights and the registered,tailor-made sonochemical equipment ofProsonix.Currently, the most important markets forProsonix are the pharmaceutical industryand the treatment of minerals, two sec-tors that use the company’s technologyfor the complete Crystallisazation ControlTM of the products, processes and pro-duction units of the customer.Furthermore, Prosonix has a growingnumber of strategic agreements withleading academic and technological part-ners. Thanks to these agreements, thecompany is perfectly placed for the de-velopment of the next generation ofcommercial applications of ultrasonicprocess solutions.


Kiwi Ventura Serviços S.A. is a €110 mil-lion investment fund advised by PinoVenture Partners of Milan. Kiwi has madeequity investments in early-stage compa-nies providing products and services in telecommunications, new media andinformation technology in Europe, with amajor focus on Italy. The most significantof its investments to date has beenTiscali, an Italian ISP, which was floatedon the Milan Stock Exchange in October1999 and subsequently benefited from asharp rise in market capitalisation. TheKiwi I fund is currently fully invested, andits management is focusing on the opera-tions of portfolio companies and imple-menting exit strategies. At the end of2007, the Kiwi I portfolio consisted of in-vestments in Investnet, Terashop (for-merly Megalink), Yoox and VXT Telcom(formerly Smart Telecom).

Life Sciences Partners (LSP) is a leadingindependent European venture capitalfirm, providing private equity financing toearly-stage-life to mid-stage life-sciencecompanies. Since the late 1980s, LSP’smanagement has invested in a large num-ber of highly innovative enterprises,many of which have grown to becomeleaders of the global life-science industry.With €450 million under managementand offices in Amsterdam, Munich andBoston, LSP is one of Europe’s largestand most experienced specialist life-sci-ence investors.

Carlyle Europe Technology Partners ismanaged by subsidiaries of the CarlyleGroup, which is one of the leading andmost experienced global private equitycompanies. CETP focuses on investing inEuropean companies mainly in the tech-nology, media and telecommunicationssectors. The fund’s focus is both on buy-outs, whereby potential portfolio compa-nies can bear debt financing, and the in-vestment of equity capital in companieswith existing income, regardless ofwhether they are already profitable ("laterstage venture"). Portfolio companies of CETP are AcisHoldings, FRS Global, Global Media, MillDigital Media, Transics, UC4 Softwareand Arsys. In 2007, Transics went publicin June (see elsewhere in this report) andNP Aerospace was sold to MorganCrucible in August.

Quest for Growth co-invested in most ofCETP’s portfolio companies throughCarlyle Europe Technology Partners co-investment, LP. Investments throughCETP LP Co-Investment are free of anypriority profit share or carried interest.

COMPANY PROFILES Venture capital funds


Ventech Capital 2 is a €112 millionFrench venture fund based in Paris andhas been active since July 2000. VentechII is an early-stage investor, investing intechnology and life sciences companiesthat are either in the process of beingformed or have recently started up.Ventech invests in the information tech-nology sector, with a particular emphasison new-generation networks, softwareapplications, online activities, the Internetand mobile telephony, and in regard toservices - commerce and the media. Inthe life sciences sector, they have a par-ticular focus on applied genomics. Thefund has built a well diversified portfolioof 23 lines, of which 16 are in theInformation Technology sector (6 in on-line activities, 5 in telecom/network/electronic and 5 in Software) and 7 in LifeSciences. The fund is now fully investedin a number of different lines. In June,Ventech’s portfolio company AlantosPharmaceuticals Holding Inc. was sold for$ 300 million cash to Amgen Inc. Furtherinformation can be found atwww.ventech.fr.

Vertex III is the third venture capital fundfor investments in Israeli and Israel relat-ed technology companies established byVertex Group. The fund’s objective is toachieve superior long-term capital appre-ciation for its investors by targeting high-growth companies with unique technolo-gy and strong management teams thatcan deliver results in rapidly growingmarkets. Vertex Israel Venture Capitalwas founded in 1997 to capitalise on emerging technology in Israel. The threesenior partners, Yoram Oron, MosheShahaf, Moty Ben-Arie and RobertGenieser lead an experienced team of in-vestment professionals. Vertex is head-quartered in Tel-Aviv and has representa-tives in Europe, the US, Singapore andJapan. Vertex has previously raised andmanaged $ 200 million in two Israelibased venture capital funds. Vertex in-vests in Israeli and Israeli related hightechnology companies in the early stagesof development in the areas of informa-tion networking, communications andsubsystems, components, imaging, enter-prise software and other leading emerg-ing technologies. For further information,please refer to www.vertexvc.com

SV Life Sciences provides finance to busi-nesses at all stages of development andacross the human life sciences sector.These sectors range from biotechnology& pharmaceuticals to medical devicesand instruments, to healthcare informa-tion technology and services. SV LifeSciences currently either advises or manages five funds with capital commit-ments of approximately $ 1.4 billion,which primarily invest amounts of be-tween $ 1m and $ 20m in North Americaand Europe.SVLSF II closed in 1999 with total com-mitments of $280 million (plus $ 30 mil-lion of co-investments committed bypartners and individuals affiliated withSVLS). As at 30th September 2006,SVLSF II had invested $ 283 million (in-cluding re-investment) in 36 portfoliocompanies.


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Ablynx Nv in EUR

COMPANY PROFILES Quoted companies

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Ablynx Nv in EUR

Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company with its headquartersin Ghent, Belgium. It is engaged in the discovery and develop-ment of Nanobodies® to treat a range of serious human dis-eases. Nanobodies® are a novel class of antibody-derivedtherapeutic proteins. Due to their small size, unique structureand extreme stability, Nanobodies® combine the advantagesof conventional antibody therapeutics with the key features ofsmall-molecule drugs.The power of Ablynx's discovery platform has resulted in aNanobody® development candidate. Ablynx’s lead pro-gramme - ALX-0081 - became the first ever single domain anti-body to enter clinical trials and Ablynx reported the final posi-tive results from its Phase I study in December 2007.

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 7 EUR

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 253 m EURPerformance in 2007 - (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +150.3 % +34.8 %Estimated earnings per share growth - -Operational margin - -Return on equity - -Estimated price earnings - -

* Consensus estimates JCF at December 31st 2007

The Alapis Group was created through the merger of VeterinSA, Lamda Detergent SA, EBIK SA and Elpharma SA. TheGroup is involved in the manufacturing and distribution ofpharmaceuticals and parapharmaceutical products, veterinarypharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and organic products.It also distributes small animal accessories, medical equipmentand health equipment products.

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 2,33 EUR

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 22.285 m EURPerformance in 2007 + 114.4 % (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +34.9 % +89.2 %Estimated earnings per share growth +242.3 % +93.5 %Operational margin 21.22 % 24.53 %Return on equity 4.24 % 7.70 %Estimated price earnings 34.0 % 17.6 %


Arcadis is an engineering consultancy company active in thefollowing three segments; environment, infrastructure and fa-cilities.Environment includes consulting on environmental policy, en-vironmental impact assessments, and the investigation of soiland groundwater contamination and remediation projects. InInfrastructure, the company designs and manages the con-struction of roads, railways, waterways, dikes, harbours, po-wer plants, industrial parks etc. Facilities activities are relatedto the development and maintenance of buildings.The company was founded in 1888 as Vereniging NederlandseHeidemaatschappij (Heidemij) to develop land. In 1995,Heidemij was quoted in Amsterdam and the companychanged its name into Arcadis in 1997.

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Arcadis (Ordinary) in EUR

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 47.3 EUR

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 977 m EURPerformance in 2007 +3.0 % (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +23.7 % +9.9 %Estimated earnings per share growth +25.9 % +18.8 %Operational margin 6.55 % 7.27 %Return on equity 27.64 % 28.11 %Estimated price earnings 15.9x 13.3x



Antisoma is a biotechnology company specialising in the de-velopment of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer.Antisoma has a diverse portfolio of drugs in development. TheCompany was founded in 1988 and its shares are traded onthe London Stock Exchange. Antisoma employs approximately60 people in offices and laboratories in London.

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Antisoma in GBP

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 24.75 GBpence

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 150 m EURPerformance in 2007 -36.5 % (in GBP)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +358.7 % +242.5 %Estimated earnings per share growth - -Operational margin - -Return on equity - 37.43 %Estimated price earnings - 5.5x



ASM International (ASMI) is a leading supplier of equipmentfor both the front-end wafer production and back-end assem-bly segments of the semiconductor market. The company isheadquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands and ASMI’sback-end business is managed through its majority-ownedsubsidiary, ASM Pacific Technology (ASMPT) Limited, which isbased in Hong Kong and listed on the Hong Kong StockExchange.

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Asm International (Ordinary) in EUR

Ark Therapeutics is a specialist healthcare group with oneproduct already introduced in hospitals and three furtherproducts in late-stage clinical development. Capitalising onover ten years of research in vascular biology and gene-basedmedicine, Ark has created a balanced portfolio of proprietaryhealthcare products targeted at specific unmet clinical needswithin vascular disease and cancer. Ark’s wound management product Kerraboot is launched inthe UK and is US approved. Products in development include:

- Cerepro - a treatment for malignant brain tumours –Phase III completed

- Vitor - a treatment for cancer related muscle wasting (cachexia) in Phase III

- Trinam - a product to prevent blood vessels blocking after vascular graft surgery, in Phase II.

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Ark Therapeutics Group Plc in GBP

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 905 m EUR Performance in 2007 +5.3 % (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +7.7 % -0.7 %Estimated earnings per share growth +9.4 % +8.2 %Operational margin 15.08 % 16.11 %Return on equity 17.94 % 16.40 %Estimated price earnings 15.4x 14.2x


Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 93.75 GB pence

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 258 m EURPerformance in 2007 +0.5 % (in GBP)



Corin Group PLC manufactures a range of reconstructive or-thopaedic devices. The company’s principle focus is on jointreplacement for the treatment of degenerative arthritis, withincreasing emphasis on the young active patient. Founded in1985, the company now has direct operations in 10 of the ma-jor orthopaedic markets, with distribution arrangements inmore than 70 countries worldwide. In May 2002, Corin Group was admitted to the official list byway of a placing.

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Corin Group Plc in GBP

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 545.5 GB pence

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 307 m EURPerformance in 2007 +87.2 % (in GBP)




BinckBank provides services in the field of securities and de-rivatives. The business unit Retail acts as an online broker forprivate investors, whereas Professional Services provides or-der processing and back office services for independent assetmanagers and low cost execution of derivatives and equity or-ders on Euronext. In May 2004, Binck changed its name fromAOT, when it acquired 100% ownership of BinckBank and in2005 Binck merged with its main subsidiary to becomeBinckBank. At the end of 2007, BinckBank acquired its Dutchcompetitor Alex from Rabobank.

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Binckbank NV in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 779 (in EUR)Performance in 2007 -5.3 % m EUR




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Dcc in EUR

D+S Europe AG was founded in 1984 and is headquartered inHamburg. It is an outsourcing provider of call centre and cus-tomer management services. The company went public in2000 and acquired dmts group (Deutsche Telefon- undMarketing Service AG) in July 2005 and Heycom in 2007. Thecompany focuses on the German speaking region and EasternEurope.D+S communication & dialogue technology services handlecustomer communication via call centres (help desk, productordering, ...). D+S mobile & telephony services includes tele-phone billing, service numbers such as 118xx (Directory),0137- (televoting), 0800- (free phone) and 0900- (premiumservice), “mobile marketing”, customer data management andencashment services. The branch office Heycom provides such e-commerce servicesas online transactions handling.

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D And S Europe AG in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 1.553 m EURPerformance in 2007 -23.3 % (in EUR)



Stock market data





DCC is a diversified sales and marketing and support servicesgroup. The group has five core divisions (IT, Healthcare,Energy, Food & Beverage and Environmental) and some otheractivities (Manor Park Homebuilding and Sercom Solutions -Supply Chain Management).DCC's IT unit Sercom Distribution is the leading Irish IT distrib-utor, a leading distributor in UK hardware and consumer soft-ware and a specialist storage distributor in France and Spain.Sercom Solutions is active in supply chain management. DCCHealthcare is active in the UK and Ireland in hospital suppliesincluding mobility and rehabilitation products and nutraceuti-cals. In the Energy market, DCC is the number two in the Irishand British LPG distribution market and the leading independ-ent player in the Irish and UK market of oil distribution. DCC isalso active in higher-growth segments of the Irish Food &Beverage market (snack foods, health foods and beverages)and the UK wine distribution market, as well as specialistEnvironmental services in Ireland and the UK.

Fornix Biosciences NV is based in Lelystad and followed the1999 merger of ARTU and Fisher.Through the operating company ARTU Biologics, Allergy isthe main division of the company and it sells allergy im-munotherapy products and some other products. Its most im-portant product is Oralgen, a sublingual immunotherapy prod-uct that is mainly sold in the Netherlands. Fornix Medical Aidsdivision distributes products such as medical consumables, in-continence products, silicon dressings and hip protectors. Atthe end of 2005, Fornix ceased its Theranostics division andtransferred the remaining R&D activities to the allergy division.The Trading division (Fisher Pharma) was sold in 2007.

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Fornix Biosciences in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 137 m EURPerformance in 2007 -7.5 % (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +4.4 % -58.4 %Estimated earnings per share growth +2.0 % -1.6 %Operational margin 16.25 % 41.65 %Return on equity 27.00 % 23.01 %Estimated price earnings 10.1x 10.3x



EVS Broadcast Equipment was founded in 1994 by LaurentMinguet, Pierre L'Hoest and Michel Counson and was listedon the Brussels Stock Exchange in October 1998. EVS is theleader in digital image-processing systems for live mobile pro-duction of television broadcasters, offering integrated produc-tion systems which manage the entire work process. Theserange from acquiring video signals from the cameras throughto distributing the images, including editing and archivingthem. The flagship product of EVS is the XT server and itsproduct range is compatible with High Definition Television(HDTV) standards. Furthermore, its 47% owned subsidiaryXDS ("eXchange Digital Cinema") produces high definitionservers (CineStore) for the digital cinema market. The divisionRadio Management Systems (NETIA) was divested in mid2004.

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Evs Broadcasting Equip in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 1.104 m EURPerformance in 2007 +87.3 % (in Eur)




ICOS was founded in 1982 as a spin-off of the KUL (Universityof Leuven) and the company's IPO was in December 1997 onNasdaq. Icos is the global market leader for IC inspection systems,which combine high-end cameras with optical recognition ma-chines and OEM inspection modules (electronic boards withcameras and system level ICOS6000 products, combining oneor more vision boards with cameras and other hardware andboard level products). In 2004, Icos introduced its WI-2000wafer inspection system, which aims at the surface inspectionof wafers. In addition, Icos develops solar cell inspection mod-ules.

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Icos Visions Systems in EUR

Global Graphics is a developer of software used in pre-press,digital printing and document systems. The company is an ex-pert in Page Description Languages (PDLs), such as PostScriptand PDF (Portable Document Format) and has a product port-folio that includes Raster Image Processors (RIPs), which con-vert text and images into printable form. Global Graphics'Harlequin RIP is used in traditional pre-press solutions in thecommercial printing and newspaper markets. Jaws RIP is em-bedded in printing devices. Other products include compo-nents for digital workflow management (the Cortex platform)and PDF creation technology. The company's main offices (in-cluding R&D) are located in Cambridge, UK.

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Global Graphics SA in EUR

Stock market data



Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth -23.7 % +42.2 %Estimated earnings per share growth -56.6 % +128.6 %Operational margin 7.51 % 18.94 %Return on equity 8.71 % 16.80 %Estimated price earnings 36.7x 16.0x


Stock market data





LEM is a market leader in providing innovative and high quali-ty solutions for measuring electrical parameters. Its core prod-ucts – current and voltage transducers - are used in a broadrange of applications in industrial, traction, energy and auto-motive markets. LEM’s strategy is to exploit the intrinsicstrengths of its core business, and develop opportunities innew markets with new applications. Together with productionplants in Geneva (Switzerland), Machida (Japan), Beijing,(China) and its regional sales offices, LEM offers an outstand-ing worldwide service. LEM has been listed on the SWX SwissExchange since 1986.

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LEM Holding SA in CHF

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 320 CHF

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 222 m EURPerformance in 2007 +48.9 % (in CHF)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +6.0 % +8.8 %Estimated earnings per share growth 51.4 % 8.9 %Operational margin 17.27 % 16.95 %Return on equity 28.46 % 25.32 %Estimated price earnings 15.8x 14.5x



ImmuPharma plc is a drug discovery and development groupin London, U.K. with operations in its subsidiaries in Mulhouse(France) and Basle (Switzerland). The company aims to devel-op novel drugs to treat serious medical conditions for whichthere is a high unmet need. It has five drugs in development totreat 1) lupus, 2) cancer, 3) severe pain, 4) highly resistant in-fections such as MRSA and 5) inflammatory and allergic disor-ders. ImmuPharma plc is publicly listed in London.

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ImmuPharma Plc in GBP

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 70 GBP


Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth 12.6 % 4,445.5 %Estimated earnings per share growth - -Operational margin - -Return on equity - -Estimated price earnings - -



Melexis manufactures advanced Mixed Signal semiconduc-tors, sensor ICs, and programmable sensor IC systems.Melexis’ main customer group is the automotive sector, butthe company’s products are also used for consumer applica-tions. The company is involved in such development areas asTPMS (tire pressure monitoring), acceleration sensors, solid state gyroscopes, automotive CMOS cameras, optical bus, in-tegrated LIN microcontroller family, 360-degree position sens-ing, ultra high-voltage (650V) engine ignition IC's. Corporateheadquarters are located in Belgium and the R&D centres arein Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Bulgaria andUkraine. Probe and test facilities are located in Belgium,Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria.

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Melexis in EUR

Mamut, founded in 1994, is a provider of software solutionsand internet services. With its products the company targets small businesses, delivering best value for money solutions in-tegrating CRM, sales force, logistics, accounting, e-commerce,domains, e-mail, web hosting and security. Product categoriesinclude Mamut Business Software, Mamut Open Services(free solutions with commercial upgrade options) and MamutActive Services (internet hosting). The company is headquar-tered in Oslo, Norway and has operations in 16 Europeancountries. A full product range is offered in Norway, Sweden,Denmark, the Netherlands, UK and Ireland. Its IPO was in May2004 at 7 NOK per share.

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Mamut ASA in NOK

Stock market data



Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +1.6 % +5.2 %Estimated earnings per share growth -1.6 % +4.9 %Operational margin 19.49 % 20.43 %Return on equity 43.89 % 40.01 %Estimated price earnings 14.1x 13.5x


Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 16 NOK

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 111 m EURPerformance in 2007 +20.3 % (in NOK)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +46.3 % +15.8 %Estimated earnings per share growth +253.6 % 172.4 %Operational margin 6.75 % 13.32 %Return on equity 5.79 % 14.01 %Estimated price earnings 55.2x 20.3x


Mobistar is one of the main players in the Belgian telecommu-nications market. It is active in mobile and fixed telephony aswell as other markets with high growth potential (data trans-mission, Internet etc). Mobistar is a member of the OrangeGroup, which bundles together France Télécom's main mobileactivities.

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Mobistar SA in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 3.940 m EURPerformance in 2007 +3.3 % (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth -3.8 % -1.9 %Estimated earnings per share growth -2.8 % -4.0 %Operational margin 28.02 % 27.60 %Return on equity 37.70 % 36.51 %Estimated price earnings 13.5x 14.1x



Metris provides metrology solutions for automotive, aerospaceand other engineering industries. These solutions includemeasuring hardware and application software and are used forthe dimensional inspection and reverse engineering of compo-nents, sub-assemblies and end products. The product portfo-lio includes coordinate measuring machines (CMMs), opticalCMMs, 3D laser scanners, laser radar and iGPS. Metris was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Leuven.It has been quoted on the Brussels stock exchange sinceDecember 2006.

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Metris N.V. in EUR

Stock market data



Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +48.1 % +36.1 %Estimated earnings per share growth +109.7 % 32.5 %Operational margin 12.02 % 14.41 %Return on equity 7.79 % 9.19 %Estimated price earnings 21.5x 16.3x



Omega Pharma was founded in 1987 and is a leadingEuropean supplier of medical products and services to phar-macists and other medical professionals. In Consumer Health(OTC), the company derives sales from prescription-free medi-cines and healthcare products. Business units are situated inBelgium, France, Northern Europe, Southern Europe andthroughout the world. The portfolio strategy focuses on sixcore categories - anti-insect (including Paranix), slimming (XL-S), natural remedies (Bional), home diagnostics (Predictor),dermotherapeutics (Wartner) and skin care (Biodermal). InBelgium, activities also include distribution of generics on be-half of Eurogenerics (Stada group). In 2007, the ProfessionalHealth business units (renamed Arseus) were separately listedon the stock market.

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Nemetschek AG is a software vendor in the architecture-engi-neering-construction (AEC) field. It provides products for thecomplete life cycle of buildings, from design through construc-tion to management. For the Design phase, the company sup-plies computer-aided-design (CAD) software for architectsand civil and construction engineers and its main products areAllplan Architecture (high end) and VectorWorks (mid mar-ket). The business unit Build provides ERP solutions and tech-nical applications for construction companies. Furthermore,the company provides software solutions for facility and com-mercial real estate management (Manage). New BusinessOpportunities (NBO) include multimedia software in the fieldof visualisation and animation. The company was founded in1963 by Prof. Georg Nemetschek, listed on the stock ex-change in 1999 and acquired Hungarian competitor Graphisoftat the beginning of 2007.

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Nemetschek AG in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 1.250 m EURPerformance in 2007 -16.0 % (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +0.1 % -15.7 %Estimated earnings per share growth +0.8 % +13.1 %Operational margin 13.35 % 15.31 %Return on equity 12.43 % 12.54 %Estimated price earnings 14.3x 12.6x


Stock market data





Ordina is a specialised service provider in Consulting, ICT andOutsourcing. Its core portfolio emphasises advising on the im-provement of customer processes, development and manage-ment of package and custom-made applications that supportthese improvements and taking over complete businessprocesses, including ICT.

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Ordina Nv in EUR

Stock market data






Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. is a commercial-stage companythat focuses on developing and marketing innovative biosurgi-cal and passive immunotherapy products.Biological products that the company is currently marketing in-clude fibrin sealants Crosseal/Quixil and Evicel. Fibrin sealantsare tissue adhesives that can be used by surgeons to stop thebleeding from small blood vessels during surgery. Omrix is de-veloping a novel biological haemostatic dressing, which is atool to help emergency room and other surgeons stop brisk ar-terial bleeding. Omrix’s main biosurgical products are licensedto Ethicon, which is a division of Johnson & Johnson.In addition, Omrix is developing and supplying immunothera-py products in such areas as smallpox, immune deficiencies,hepatitis B and West Nile virus. The company has been listed on Nasdaq since April 2006.

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Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. in USD

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 34.74 USD

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 403 m EURPerformance in 2007 +14.8 % (in USD)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth -16.3 % +48.3 %Estimated earnings per share growth -60.7 % +119.6 %Operational margin 12.64 % 25.75 %Return on equity 11.35 % - Estimated price earnings 48.3x 22.0x



Philips is active in the following four main businesses: DAP,Lighting, Medical Systems and Consumer Electronics.Domestic Appliances and Personal Care (DAP) operate in fourbusiness areas - shaving & beauty, domestic appliances, oralhealthcare and health and wellness. Lighting includes lamps,luminaries, lighting electronics, automotive and Lumileds(LEDs). Medical Systems mainly operates in the three businessareas of diagnostic imaging systems, customer services andclinical solutions. In Consumer Electronics, Philips is the largestmanufacturer in Europe. It has a number of participations inquoted and unquoted companies, such as LG Philips LCD,TSMC, MedQuist and NXP Semiconductors (the formerPhilips semiconductor division).

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Philips (Ordinary) in EUR

P&I is a leading supplier of human resources managementsoftware solutions. P&I solutions encompass the entire spectrum of human re-sources management and its products can be used internation-ally and in all sectors. The company is headquartered inWiesbaden, Germany and services are provided to clientsfrom five regional offices. P&I is present in other Europeancountries both through national companies (in Switzerland andin Austria) and cooperation partners. P&I is listed in the PrimeStandard on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

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P & I (Personal & Inform) AG in EUR

Stock market data



Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth -10.1 % +4.9 %Estimated earnings per share growth +92.6 % -2.4 %Operational margin 6.60 % 7.64 %Return on equity 8.35 % 7.65 %Estimated price earnings 16.3x 16.7x


Stock market data





Punch Graphix PLC (NV) designs, develops and delivers digi-tal printing and prepress equipment and related consumablesfor the global graphics industry. Punch Graphix operatesthrough two business lines - Digital printing and Prepress solu-tions. Digital printing solutions, under the brand Xeikon (ac-quired by Punch International in 2002), develops, manufac-tures and distributes high-end digital colour printing systemsand consumables such as toners. Meanwhile, the prepress so-lutions division is formed by two companies: Strobbe address-es the computer-to-plate (CtP) newspaper printer market as anOEM supplier to Agfa Gevaert. BasysPrint markets prepress equipment, based on the specific technology of CtP for UV-sensitive plates, for the commercial printing market.

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Punch Graphix N.V. in EUR

Stock market data



Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth - +17.6 %Estimated earnings per share growth - -25.5 %Operational margin 13.62 % 13.90 %Return on equity 9.21 % 10.05 %Estimated price earnings 6.0x 8.1x



Plethora Solutions is a UK-based biopharmaceutical companythat focuses on the development of products for the treatmentof urological disease. Plethora targets the diagnosis, treatmentand management of urological disease, which major pharma-ceutical companies have identified as an area of great commer-cial opportunity. Plethora focuses on the identification, devel-opment and out licensing of products to satisfy unmet medicalneeds. It has acquired a portfolio of products, all of whichhave strong intellectual property positions. Some of theseproducts are undergoing development by Plethora, while others are now approaching out-licensing.

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Plethora Solutions Holdings Plc in GBP

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 78 GBP





Smartrac was founded by Richard Bird in 2000 and is a leadingsupplier of RFID inlays for a number of applications. The com-pany has segmented its operations into two divisions - in thestandard product unit Smartrac offers inlays for mass trans-portation cards, access control and logistics while in the highsecurity business unit Smartrac sells inlays for contactlessbanking, credit and debit cards (ePayment) and electronicpassports (ePassports). Inlays for standard applications containa memory chip but most of them also have security functions,e.g. password authentication and basic encryption. Smartrac’shigh security products contain microcontroller chips that in-clude more sophisticated encryption features and allow ad-vanced calculations.

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Smartrac NV in EUR

Real, with over 1,000 customers in the Benelux and France, isa major supplier of ICT solutions and services and has approxi-mately 890 employees. The company provides innovative ICTsolutions, adapted to the business of its customers to helpthem achieve their growth and profitability objectives. Real isactive in such fields as Business Intelligence, Customer rela-tionship management, Web Solutions, Information manage-ment, Technology Innovation, Managed Services andEnterprise Resource planning, Enterprise asset managementand Financial accounting solutions. Real provides custom-made as well as standardised solutions in vertical markets suchas industry, textile, government, and wholesale and healthcareservices.

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Real Software SA in EUR

Stock market data





Stock market data



Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +3.0 % +9.3 %Estimated earnings per share growth -74.9 % -87.3 %Operational margin 4.56 % 6.58 %Return on equity 1.80 % 0.23 %Estimated price earnings 310.3x 2.437.5x


Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content thatpower navigation and location-based services (LBS). The infor-mation is the foundation for a wide range of personal and in-car navigation systems and mobile and Internet map applica-tions that enable users to find the people, places, productsand services they need, wherever they might be situated. Inaddition, the company works with business partners that trustits digital map data to deliver critical applications for emer-gency, business, fleet and infrastructure services. Through acombination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlasprovides digital map coverage of more than 200 countries andterritories worldwide. The company was founded in 1984 andis listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TA6) and onEuronext Amsterdam (TA). During 2007, TomTom launchedan offer to acquire Tele Atlas for almost 2.8 billion euro.

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sep 05 dec 05 mrt 06 jun 06 sep 06 dec 06 mrt 07 jun 07 sep 07 dec 07

Tele Atlas in EUR

Stock market data






Technotrans is a technology and service company that concen-trates on applications derived from its core skill of liquid tech-nology. In the Technology division, the company is a systemsupplier to offset printing press manufacturers such asHeidelberger Drückmaschinen, MAN Roland and König &Bauer. Products include components for temperature control,ink supply, spray dampening and cleaning. The company alsoproduces electro-forming products in the field of optical stor-age. Services include product related service (repair and main-tenance) and technical documentation (global document solu-tions and document editing software docuglobe).

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Technotrans AG in EUR

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TKH Group (formerly Twentsche Kabel) focuses on three mar-ket segments - telecom solutions, building solutions and indus-trial solutions. Within these segments, solutions for communi-cations, security, care and comfort are growth areas.The group currently consists of three divisions: The Cablegroup is active in the manufacturing and trading of cables,such as specialty cables (± 60% of division sales), low voltagecables (± 20%) and optical fibre cables (± 15%), which are soldto power distribution companies, telecom companies and in-stallation companies. The Technical Trading group trades in awide range of products such as electrical, data, telecom andICT components. The Machinery group sells tyre building sys-tems (± 90% of division sales) and automated flexible productshandling systems (± 10%).

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TKH Group NV in EUR

Koninklijke Ten Cate is a technology driven company, active ina range of advanced materials, mainly high-end technical tex-tiles. The company operates through the following three divi-sions - Advanced Textiles & Composites focuses on protectiveand safety fabrics for professional customers and compositesfor technological applications, such as aerospace and antibal-listic materials. Geosynthetics (formerly IndustrialFabrics) &Grass consists of Nicolon and Thilion. Nicolon producesgeosynthetics i.e. woven fabrics and non-wovens (fleeces) forapplications in civil engineering and environmental projects(e.g. dike protection), construction, agriculture (e.g. mush-room cultivation) and leisure (e.g. swimming pool covers).Meanwhile, Thilion is one of the world's leading producers ofartificial grass. The Technical Components division comprisesEnbi which produces mainly rubber and foam rollers for prod-ucts such as printers.

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Kon Ten Cate in EUR

Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 31st 2007 14.96 EUR




Stock market data





Umicore is a materials technology group with four business areas. The Precious Metals Products & Catalysts group is oneof the world's largest manufacturers of automotive emissioncontrol catalysts. The four other business units in this group arejewellery and electroplating (90.8 % stake in Allgemeine Gold-un Silberscheideanstalt), precious metals chemistry, technicalmaterials and thin film products. Precious Metals Services is theworld's largest recycler and refiner of complex materials con-taining precious metals. The group also operates a metals management unit (trading, leasing, hedging,...). AdvancedMaterials produces high-purity metals, alloys, compounds andengineered products (cobalt oxide, cobalt powders, germani-um, zinc powder, ...) for use in rechargeable batteries, micro-electronics, hard metals tooling industry, ... Zinc Specialties is arefined zinc producer, focusing on specialties. The SolviCorejoint-venture with Solvay is active in fuel cells.

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Umicore SA in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 4,454 m EURPerformance in 2007 +33.6 % (in EUR)

Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth -6.1 % +5.9 %Estimated earnings per share growth +16.4 % +3.3 %Operational margin 4.36 % 3.98 %Return on equity 22.30 % 18.16 %Estimated price earnings 17.1x 16.6x



Transics is a provider of fleet management systems (FMS) ortelematics for truck and transport fleets. Transics' FMS hardwareor on-board computers (OBC), with its brand names Laura Plusand Quattro Plus, registers information related to the vehicleand driver. Subsidiary DIS provides digital tachographs to regis-ter rest and driving times. Software includes TMS, which is usedfor reporting and analysis, and TFM for accessing real-time in-formation. Transics provides subscription based services such assoftware and hardware maintenance, GPRS communication andnavigation. The Field Services team manages project implemen-tation and consultancy.The company was founded in 1990 by Walter Mastelinck andLudwig Lemenu. In May 2006, the Carlyle Group acquired 80% of the company and this was followed by an IPO in June2007.

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mei 07 jun 07 jul 07 aug 07 sep 07 okt 07 nov 07 dec 07

Transics International NV in EUR

Stock market data


Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 142 m EURPerformance in 2007 - (in EUR)




Unit 4 Agresso is an international software company with twodivisions. It is headquartered in the Netherlands (Sliedrecht)and has been listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange since1998.The company is active in business software and sells licenses,maintenance and services for software to control, support andoptimise various business processes and to improve businessoperations. The Internet & Security division was sold at the be-ginning of 2007.

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Unit 4 Agresso in EUR

Unibet Group was founded in 1997 and is an online gamblingcompany with its headquarters in Malta. It has been listed onthe Stockholm stock exchange since June 2004. Unibet's activities are licensed in the UK and in Malta. The group provides a range of online gambling products in 26 differentlanguages, including sports betting, live betting, casino, poker,lotteries and soft games through the group's web site. InAugust 2005, Unibet acquired Global Leisure Partners, theparent company of MrBookmaker.com, broadening thegroup’s market coverage in France and Belgium.

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Unibet Group Plc in SEK

Stock market data





Stock market data

Stock price at December 31st 2007 223 SEK

Market capitalisation at December 31st 2007 666 m EURPerformance in 2007 +16.6 % (in SEK)



Wilex AG has an attractive late-stage oncology portfolio. It hastwo products in clinical development - Rencarex® in Phase IIIand WX-UK1 in Phase Ib/IIa and the company also has severalantibody and small-molecule pre-clinical programmes target-ing various cancer types. Wilex has a pipeline of six develop-ment programmes and is concentrating its development ef-forts in oncology on therapeutic antibodies and targeted smallmolecules.Wilex owns the global commercialisation rights for all of itsmajor development programmes. In April 2005, Quest ForGrowth agreed to invest €2,000,000 in Wilex AG. InNovember 2006, the shares started trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

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okt 06 nov 06 dec 06 jan 07 feb 07 mrt 07 apr 07 mei 07 jun 07 jul 07 aug 07 sep 07 okt 07 nov 07 dec 07

Wilex AG in EUR

Stock market data



Financial data* 2007 2008Estimated sales growth +60.6 % +37.0 %Estimated earnings per share growth +0.0 % -Operational margin - -Return on equity - -Estimated price earnings - -



Vizrt provides software for the generation of real-time HD/SDbroadcast graphics. All Vizrt's graphics products are poweredby Viz|Engine, a so-called renderer. The company's softwaresuite provides graphics solutions including character genera-tion (Viz|Trio), 3D ticker systems, virtual studio, weather appli-cations, map creation tools, virtual sports analysis, ... In addi-tion, Vizrt is a vendor of media asset management software,which involves automated ingest of digital media, digitalarchiving and desktop media processing.Vizrt Ltd. has its roots in RT-Set, which was founded in 1994and changed its name to Vizrt (Vizualisation Real-time) in2001, following the acquisition of Peak Broadcast Systems inNorway. Vizrt has its registered seat in Israel, with corporateheadquarters located in Bergen, Norway. Its shares have beenquoted on the stock markets of Frankfurt (since 1999) andOslo (since 2005).

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Vizrt in EUR

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Wirecard AG is one of the leading international providers ofelectronic payment and risk management solutions. Globally speaking, Wirecard supports over 7,000 companies from vari-ous industry segments in automating their payment processesand minimising cases of default. Wirecard Bank AG providesaccount and credit card services both for business and privatecustomers and is a Principal Member of VISA, MasterCard andJCB. The Internet payment service Wirecard enables con-sumers to make secure payments at millions of MasterCard ac-ceptance outlets worldwide. In addition, registered users cansend or receive money orders to one another on a real-timebasis. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt SecuritiesExchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI).

Explanatory notes to Stock market data andFinancial data.

Stock price on December 31st 2007: Closing price of the stock in

local currency at the last trading day of the year 2007.

Market capitalization on December 31st 2007: Stock market capi-

talisation of the company, in euro on the last trading day of the

year 2007. Market capitalisation is calculated as the total number

of shares outstanding multiplied by the stock price.

Performance in 2007: Total share performance of the stock in lo-

cal currency, being the increase of the stock price plus the divi-

dend yield (reinvested).

Estimated sales growth: Percentage rise of the estimated sales

(turnover) of the year compared to the previous year.

Estimated earnings per share growth: Percentage rise of the esti-

mated earnings per share of the year compared to the previous

year. Earnings per share is generally calculated by analysts as net

profit, possibly corrected for non-recurring elements, divided by

the average number of outstanding shares of the year.

Operating margin: Estimated operating profit (or profit before fi-

nancial income and costs and before taxes), possibly corrected

for non recurring items, divided by the estimated sales (turnover)

of the year.

Return on equity: Estimated earnings per share of the year, divid-

ed by the estimated equity per share at the end of the year. This

ratio is an indicator for the profitability of the company.

Estimated earnings per share ratio: Stock price at December 31st

2007 divided by the estimated earnings per share of the year.

All Financial Data is based on the database of JCF (Factset), which

calculates consensus figures based on collected estimates from

analysts. The estimates are not necessarily in accordance with

possible estimates from the company involved and all figures are

as estimated on December 31st 2007.

Performance in 2007 as calculated by Bloomberg.0

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Wirecard AG in EUR

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY

Name, legal form and registered office

The company is a public limited company trading under the name

of "Quest for Growth". It is incorporated as an investment company

with a fixed capital for investment in listed and unlisted companies,

hereinafter called “the Privak” (Private Equity Bevak). The compa-

ny’s registered office is situated at Lei 19, box 3, B-3000 Leuven.

The company is registered in Belgium under Leuven trade register

number 99 856.

Formation, changes to the articles of association, duration

The company was incorporated in the form of a public limited com-

pany (NV/SA) by deed passed before Notary Hans Berquin in

Brussels on the ninth of June, nineteen hundred and ninety-eight,

and published in the Riders to the Belgian Official Gazette of the

following twenty-fourth of June under the number 980624-595.

The Articles of Association were amended by deed passed before

Notary Hans Berquin in Brussels on the thirtieth of June, nineteen

hundred and ninety-eight, and published in the Riders to the

Belgian Official Gazette on the following nineteenth of September

under the number 980919-328.


Notary Eric Spruyt in Brussels on the twenty-second of July, nine-

teen hundred and ninety-eight, and published in the Riders to the

Belgian Official Gazette on the following nineteenth of September


A deed amending the Articles of Association including a decision to

increase the capital was drawn up before Notary Eric Spruyt in

Brussels on the twenty-fifth of August, nineteen hundred and nine-

ty-eight, and published in the Riders to the Belgian Official Gazette

on the following twenty-fifth of November under the number

981125-302.


Notary Hans Berquin in Brussels on the twenty-second of

September, nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and published in

the Riders to the Belgian Official Gazette on the following eleventh

of November under the number 981111-003.


Notary Eric Spruyt on the seventeenth of September, two thousand

and one, and published in the Riders to the Belgian Official Gazette

on the tenth of January two thousand and one under the number

20010110-533.


Notary Luc Hertecant, in Overijse, on the nineteenth of September

two thousand and two and published in the Riders to the Belgian

Official Gazette on the twenty-ninth of October two thousand and

two under the number 0132476.


Notary Luc Hertecant, in Overijse, on the ninth of February two

thousand and four and published in the Riders to the Belgian

Official Gazette on the twenty-second of April two thousand and

four under the number 0062076.


Notary Luc Hertecant, in Overijse, on the fifteenth of September

two thousand and five and published in the Riders to the Belgian

Official Gazette on the eighth of November two thousand and five



Notary Eric Spruyt, in Brussels, on the eighth of November two

thousand and five and published in the Belgian Official Gazette on

the ninth of December two thousand and five under the number

20051209-178235.


Notary Luc Hertecant, in Overijse, on the tenth of November two

thousand and five and published in the Belgian Official Gazette on

the ninth of December two thousand and five under the number

20051209-178236.

The Articles of Association were last amended by deed passed be-

fore Peter Van Melkebeke, in Brussels, on the thirtieth of April two

thousand and seven and published in the Belgian Official Gazette

on the seventh of June two thousand and seven under the number

20070607-081034.

The company is established for an indefinite period and shall com-

mence trading on the date of its formation.

Financial year and audit

The Company’s financial year begins on January 1st and ends on

December 31st. The Annual Accounts are audited by Klynveld Peat

Marwick Goerdeler Bedrijfsrevisoren Burg. CV, represented by Mr

Erik Clinck, avenue du Bourgetlaan 40, B-1130 Brussels.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Consultation of company documents

The company’s Articles of Association are available from the

Registry of the Commercial Court at Leuven. The Annual Accounts

of the Company are filed with the National Bank of Belgium. These

documents, as well as the Annual, Interim and Quarterly Reports

and all published information intended for shareholders, can also be

obtained from the company’s registered office. The company‘s

Annual Report is sent each year to all registered shareholders and

other persons that request a copy.

Company objectives

The objectives of the Privak are the collective investment of funds

collected from the public pursuant to the Royal Decree of the eigh-

teenth of April nineteen hundred and ninety-seven in listed and un-

listed growth companies and funds with a similar objective to the

Privak. It shall be governed in its investment policy by the aforesaid

Royal Decree and the provisions in these Articles of Association and

the prospectus published with regard to the issue of shares to the

public.

The Privak shall focus its investment policy on investment in growth

industries in various sectors of the economy including but not limit-

ed to the sectors of medicine and health, biotechnology, information

technology, software and electronics and new materials.

Furthermore the company may incidentally keep liquid funds in the

form of savings accounts, investments at notice or short term invest-

ment certificates. From the second year of operations onwards,

such liquid funds shall in principle be limited to ten percent (10 %)

of the assets unless a special decision by the Board of Directors

temporarily authorises a higher percentage.

Day-to-day management is carried out by Quest Management NV,

acting as the Managing Director.

General meeting

The General Meeting shall be held on the third Thursday of March

at 11am. Where that date falls on a public holiday, the meeting shall

take place on the next working day. The AGM for the accounting

year commencing January 1st 2007 and ending December 31st

2007, will take place on March 20th 2008.



GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY’SCAPITAL

Issued capital of the Company

The Company was incorporated on June 9th 1998 with share capital

of 201,000,000 BEF through the issue of 200,000 ordinary shares,

750 A shares and 250 B shares.

On June 30th 1998, the share capital was increased by 367,000,000

BEF up to 568,000,000 BEF through the issue of 367,000 ordinary

shares.

On July 22nd 1998, the share capital was increased by 140,000,000

BEF up to 708,000,000 BEF through the issue of 140,000 ordinary

shares.

On September 22nd 1998, the share capital was increased by

2,000,000,000 BEF up to 2,708,000,000 BEF through a public offer

to subscribe for 2,000,000 new ordinary shares.

On November 17th 2000, the share capital was increased by

50,098,000 EUR to 117,227,566 EUR through a public offer to sub-

scribe for 2,708,000 new ordinary shares.

On September 15th 2005, the capital was reduced by 53,629,955

EUR to 63,597,611 EUR by means of a capital reduction to clear in-

curred losses. The number of shares remained unchanged.

On November 8th 2005, the share capital was increased by

32,344,584 EUR to 95,942,195 EUR by exercising warrants and cre-

ating 4,043,073 new ordinary shares.

On November 10th 2005, the share capital was reduced by

6,000,000 EUR to 89,942,195 EUR by creating an available reserve

of 6,000,000 EUR. The number of shares remained unchanged.

On April 30th 2007, the share capital was increased by 19,806,547

EUR to 109,748,742 EUR by creating 2,330,182 new ordinary

shares.

The subscribed capital of the Company is 109,748,742 EUR and is

represented by 11,788,255 ordinary shares, 750 A shares and 250

B shares without nominal value.

EVOLUTION COMPANY'S CAPITAL AND RESERVES

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60,000,000

80,000,000

100,000,000

120,000,000

Issued capital Reserves available for distribution Reserves not available for distribution

4,982,660

14,080,35217,550,862

67,129,567

117,227,566

63,597,611

95,942,19589,942,195

109,748,742

6,000,000

4,297,194 1,702,806

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All ordinary shares have the same rights and privileges, represent the

same fractional value of the capital of the company and are fully paid-

up. All of these ordinary shares have the same voting rights, dividend

entitlements and rights to the liquidation surplus.

The holders of Class A and Class B shares will receive a preference

dividend. That preference dividend will be paid out from part of the

net profit that exceeds the amount necessary to pay all shareholders a

dividend equal to the return of a risk-free investment based on a refer-

ence index (Bund – 10 years), increased by a 1.5 % nominal risk premi-

um, calculated on the basis of the net asset value as expressed on the

balance sheet (after profit appropriation) at the beginning of the finan-

cial year to which the dividend relates. The reference index (Bund –

10 years – Bloomberg code=GDBR10) for a given financial year is de-

termined and presented to the Annual General Meeting annually by

the Board of Directors on the day of the Annual General Meeting that

deliberates over the results of the previous fiscal year. Of that surplus

amount, twenty percent (20 %) will be paid out to holders of Class A

and Class B shares as preference dividends. The remaining eighty per-

cent (80 %) will be distributed equally among all shareholders. If the

capital is increased during the year, the new capital contributed will be

included in the calculation on a pro rata temporis basis.

Authorised capital of the company

The updated text of the Articles of Association as on November 10th

2005 has expressly permitted the Board of Directors to increase the

share capital on one or more occasions by a maximum amount of

89,942,195 EUR.

This authorisation is granted for a period of five years, with effect from

publication of the deed of capital increase of the Company on

November 10th 2005, published in the Riders to the Belgian Official

Gazette. It can be renewed one or more times, for a maximum period

of five years on each occasion.

The General Meeting may increase or reduce the subscribed capital.

In the event of an increase in capital by issuing shares in return for a

contribution in cash, it is not possible to deviate from the priority right

of the existing shareholders.

Warrants

5,416,000 warrants were issued on September 26th 2002. Each war-

rant entitled the holder to subscribe to one new ordinary share of the

company, upon exercise of the warrant during one of the exercise pe-

riods, against payment of the strike price of 8 EUR per ordinary share.

4,043,073 warrants have been converted into new ordinary shares.

9,320,728 warrants were issued on April 10th 2007. Four warrants en-

titled the holder to subscribe to one new ordinary share of the compa-

ny, upon exercise of the warrant during the exercise period, against

payment of the strike price of 8.5 EUR per ordinary share. 2,106,555

new ordinary shares were issued upon exercise of preferential sub-

scription rights. The remaining 223,627 new ordinary shares were is-

sued in an open tranche.

Share buy-back

The Extraordinary General Meeting of March 15th 2007 decided to

authorise the Board of Directors to acquire the Company's own shares

– for the Company's account under the conditions stipulated by the

Belgian Companies Code – of which the combined fractional value is

not more than ten per cent (10 %) of the issued capital, for a minimum

price of six EUR (€6.00) per share and a maximum price of twelve

EUR (€12.00) per share. This authorisation applies for a period of

eighteen (18) months, effective from publication of the decision of this

EGM in the Riders to the Belgian Official Gazette. The Board of

Directors may dispose of the shares so purchased, either directly or

through the intermediary of a person acting in his or her own name,

but for account of the Company, at a price that lies within the range

determined for the authorisation to purchase own shares. Own shares

will be purchased without reducing the capital, but by forming an un-

available reserve equal to the value at which the acquired shares are

recorded in the inventory. The voting right associated with these

shares will be suspended for as long as the shares are in the

Company's possession.

Information on share ownership

The following shareholders have notified the Company of their in-

terest of 5 % or more in the Company


Name and address % Date of declaration

Dexia Bank België NVPachécolaan 44, 1000 BrusselsBelgium

11.78 % 15/11/2005

KBC Asset Management NVHavenlaan 2, 1080 BrusselsBelgium

6.13 % 12/09/2006

Laxey Partners LimitedThe Old Chapel, Summerhill Road Ochan, Isle of Man IM3 1NAUnited Kingdom

6.62 % 03/04/2007


FINANCIAL CALENDAR

Shareholders' meetings Annual General Meeting March 20th 2008

Annual General Meeting March 19th 2009

Public announcements Results Q1 April 25th 2008

Results H1 July 25th 2008

Results Q3 October 24th 2008

Results FY January 23rd 2009

Analyst meetings April 25th 2008 2.00 pm

July 25th 2008 2.00 pm

October 24th 2008 2.00 pm

January 23rd 2009 2.00 pm

Press conferences April 24th 2008 11.00 am

July 24th 2008 11.00 am

October 23rd 2008 11.00 am

January 22nc 2009 11.00 am

Publication of Net Asset Value

N.A.V.: 31 Jan 29 Feb 31 Mar 30 Apr 31 May 30 Jun 31 Jul 31 Aug 30 Sep 31 Oct 30 Nov 31 Dec

Cash 7 Feb 6 Mar 10 Apr 8 May 5 Jun 17 Jul 14 Aug 4 Sep 9 Oct 6 Nov 4 Dec 8 Jan

De Tijd 2 Feb 8 Mar 5 Apr 3 May 7 Jun 5 Jul 2 Aug 6 Sep 4 Oct 8 Nov 6 Dec 3 Jan

L'Echo 2 Feb 8 Mar 5 Apr 3 May 7 Jun 5 Jul 2 Aug 6 Sep 4 Oct 8 Nov 6 Dec 3 Jan

QfG Website 1 Feb 5 Mar 4 Apr 2 May 4 Jun 4 Jul 1 Aug 3 Sep 3 Oct 5 Nov 3 Dec 2 Jan

Publication NAV on QfG website after 5.40PM.

Dividend payment date March 31st 2008

Board of Directors Dr Jos B. Peeters, ChairmanQuest Management NV, Managing Director, represented by Mr René Avonts,Managing Director of Quest Management NVBergendal & Co SPRL, Vice Chairman, Independent director represented by Count Diego du Monceau de BergendalTacan BVBA, Vice Chairman, represented by Mr Johan TackEuro Invest Management NV, Director, represented by Prof Philippe HaspeslaghDe Meiboom NV, Director, represented by Mr Edward Claeys(Up to April 23th, 2007 De Meiboom NV was represented by Mr Leo Claeys)Pamica NV, Independent Director, represented by Mr Michel AkkermansAuxilium Keerbergen BVBA, Independent director, represented by Mr Frans TheeuwesGengest BVBA, Independent director, represented by Mr Rudi MariënProf Koen Debackere, Independent directorMr Dirk Vanderschrick, director

Audit Comittee Auxilium Keerbergen BVBA, Chairman, represented by Mr Frans TheeuwesBergendal & Co SPRL, represented by Count Diego du Monceau de BergendalTacan BVBA, represented by Mr Johan TackGengest BVBA, represented by Mr Rudi Mariën(Gengest BVBA was a member of the Audit Comittee until January 15th 2007)

Investment Comittee Dr Jos B. PeetersQuest Management NV, represented by Mr René Avonts,Euro Invest Management NV, represented by Prof Philippe HaspeslaghDe Meiboom NV, represented by Mr Edward Claeys (Up to April 23th 2007 De Meiboom NV was represented by Mr Leo Claeys)Pamica NV, represented by Mr Michel AkkermansGengest BVBA, represented by Mr Rudi MariënMrs Nadia Van Hove

Managing Director Quest Management NV, Lei 19 box 2, B-3000 Leuvenrepresented by Mr René Avonts

Auditors Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler Bedrijfsrevisoren Burg. CV, represented by Mr Erik Clinck, Bourgetlaan 40, B-1130 Brussels.

Depositary bank DEXIA BANK, Pachécolaan 44, B-1000 Brussels

Incorporation June 9th 1998Official listing September 23rd 1998 on Euronext BrusselsSecurity number ISIN: BE0003730448

Company reports Quarterly, the next report will be the quarterly report, to be published in April 2008.

Stock Price Bloomberg: QFG BB EquityReuters: QUFG.BRTelekurs: 950524

EstimatedNet Asset Value Published every first Saturday of the month in De Tijd, in L’Echo, Cash and on the Quest for Growth

website.


KEY INFORMATION

QUEST FOR GROWTH NVPrivak, fixed capital investment company established under Belgian Law

Lei 19, box 3, B-3000 Leuven - Phone: +32 (0)16 28 41 28 - Fax: +32 (0)16 28 41 29

[email protected]

annual report general report 20072)eng.pdf2 l general report 2007 pursuant to the royal decree of...

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