Comment on Wilan strategic reviewSome have noted that there have been strategic reviews of Wilan in the past that, if I follow things correctly, led to nothing. And so it’s natural to think that this time around may also lead to nothing. Indeed, you could argue that this “concern” is currently bearing on the stock price.
But it strikes me that there’s a simple logical argument that leads to the conclusion that Wilan effectively MUST be sold fairly soon.
Bret Kidd is a great ITS guy but (I’m pretty sure) he knows nothing (or cares not at all) about Wilan. And I doubt he’s planning to take all the time necessary to get sufficiently (for a CEO) up to speed on Wilan.
So if Wilan continues as part of Quarterhill (for more than a short time) we will have a situation where the CEO doesn’t know much about a substantial part of the business.
Essentially, either Wilan has to go or Bret Kidd has to go. (Or BK has to get up to speed on Wilan, which I doubt is in the cards.)
This would argue in favour of Quarterhill segregating Wilan in its Q4 & FY 2021 earnings statement as something like “assets held for sale.” Hence results of 2021 continuing operations should (I would think) be only ITS. That’s, of course, up to the board and the auditors.
That said, there’s no reason, operationally, why Wilan can’t continue with Quarterhill for a while. Vladescu would run it and essentially report on it directly to the board. But that could not be a long-term arrangement.