RE:WiLAN confirms acquisition approaches and puts up to 2,000 pThis was a good read... thanks for posting. A copy of the last 3 paragraphs is below and gives a decent perspective of the current situation:
The initial response to WiLAN’s announcement from the markets was
not positive as the company opened down and the share price had fallen 7.7% by just before midday (Eastern US time) on Thursday. When the company announced its review its market capitalisation was just under $400 million, as of today it’s around $360 million.
Despite the market’s reaction, there were several encouraging points to come out of the call. Skippen revealed that the company is currently working on several deals right now over possible licensing partnerships. It has already signed the Panasonic agreement and on the pure licensing side it has entered into deals with HTC, Sierra Wireless, Toshiba and Hon Hai. It has also had a judge overturn a jury decision that the patent it was enforcing against Apple was invalid.
Much of the logic behind WiLAN’s announcement is clearly sensible and is indicative of where the market is moving. But how do you convince investors in a patent company that’s still worth several hundred million dollars, that the future lies in fewer patent assets and a litigation stick that looks more like a twig than a baseball bat? Whatever market you’re in, that could be a tough sell.