MSD's possible White Knight? ... IVhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures
Intellectual Ventures was founded as a private partnership in 2000 by Nathan Myhrvold, Edward Jung of Microsoft, Peter Detkin of Intel, and Gregory Gorder of Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based law firm. They reportedly have raised over $5 billion from many large companies including Microsoft, Intel, Sony, Nokia, Apple, Google, SAP, Nvidia and eBay, plus investment firms such as Charles River Ventures. Reported statistics indicate over 30,000 purchased patents and applications[3] and over 2000 internally-developed inventions. Licenses to patents are obtained through investment and royalties.[4]
From MSD's pr:
"Mosaid has received a formal, nonbinding indication of interest for a potential transaction," company lawyers said. "The potential bidder is a substantial private equity firm with an international presence and over $5 billion in capital under management."