Quarterhill Inc T.QTRH

This is interesting… Cabbie might be right

[v_guerriero]

Below is an ad for a corporate securities lawyer role for Quarterhill.  This is how they are trying to attract new employees.  Notice that this is the first time we have ever seen a company external communication that excludes WiLan.  

Cabbie, you indeed might be right that an exit of WiLan may be sooner than any of us or the market expect.

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Quarterhill is a growth-oriented company in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) industry. The company is headquartered in Toronto with subsidiaries in adjacent markets across Canada, the US and Europe. With a strategy of pursuing investments that capitalize on attractive market trends in ITS, the company is growing through strategic acquisitions with a view to becoming a global leader in the sector. Quarterhill is a Canadian public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (QTRH).

Due to their continued growth, Quarterhill is seeking to add a mid-level Corporate/ Securities lawyer to join their cohesive team in downtown Toronto. Although the position is based out of Toronto, there is flexibility to work remotely and therefore outside of Toronto as well. Reporting to the SVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, this person will lead the company on a wide range of transactional and general corporate matters including corporate finance, public and private M&A as well as continuous disclosure matters. Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: negotiating, drafting and advising on a variety of transactions; advising the Executive Team and Board on legal matters generally; leading due diligence on acquisition targets and managing external counsel.

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience in corporate finance, M&A and/or securities from either a reputable law firm or in a public company setting. Quarterhill is seeking a motivated individual who is a skilled “deal lawyer” but can also appropriately balance legal risk with business objectives and understand the needs of key business stakeholders. This is an excellent opportunity for an entrepreneurial minded lawyer who is seeking to maintain a sophisticated and dynamic transactional practice, but in a nimble setting that offers more balance and flexibility.

If you possess the requisite skill-set, please contact in complete confidence Danya Cohen or Adam Lepofsky (both Canadian qualified lawyers) at RainMaker Group.

[e-mail] | [e-mail]

As this is an exclusive engagement with RainMaker Group, any resumes sent directly to Quarterhill will be redirected to RainMaker Group. We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

[cabbieJBJ]

Very interesting find v_g.  QTRH is an ITS company according to the job posting.  As the corporate entity, perhaps that is not totally surprising a description (and assigning the patent assertion business to a subsidiary), but as I posted last week, the company's pressers have distanced the IP monetization and ITS businesses. I feel that the ITS opportunity cost issue has to be

[v_guerriero]

One potential idea is the role that RPX could play as an intermediary.  It has done it with other companies.   Given that the wireless portfolio is largely unlicensed, Apple and the other licensees could provide the capital to RPX and take out the WiLan patent portfolio.  This clears everyone of the patent litigation risk and removes a patent assertion entity from the market

[cabbieJBJ]

v_g, that's an option for sure.  I wouldn't discount an IPO for Wilan either.  My tinglies still sense some possible role in the Blackberry IP deal.

[v_guerriero]

Why I think RPX is a conduit is the size of the litigation risk shared across multiple companies.  We know the Apple risk is in the hundreds of millions and potential injunctions in Germany.  We know AMD has it highlighted as the #1 litigation risk in their financial statements.  I suspect that is true for Micron as well. it doesn't make sense for Apple on its own to take

[astutein]

v-g  For an acquistion pool to take out Wilan it would have to buy all of existing licensing contracts and enforce them. There may be a conflict of interest. The fact that Wilan trading at minus 30 would be in no way the price to buy out Wilan. Price could b one billion as suggested by one of our analyts. I would welcome buy-out but I don't think it will happen. Wilan has to destroy

[v_guerriero]

You are missing the point. They could buy WiLan and not enforce any of the patents or any of the existing agreements. They could put the patents on the trophy shelf and that would be cheaper than paying any licensing fees.   If QTRH was offered 250M cash now for the WiLan unit by RPX, I think many here would be happy adding $2/share in cash.     With the reduction in the

[cabbieJBJ]

Tgat would be $250M after QTRH cashes the Apple check, right v_g? USD as well? ;)

[v_guerriero]

Yes.  It would be post the Apple decision.   This is consistent with Todd Coupland' discounted value of the $1Billion licensing potential of the portfolio excluding Apple.  He removes the cost of licensing expenses and then applies a 15% annual returm requirement.  But, you don't necessarily need a CAFC decision.  They could come to an agreement beforehand and

[astutein]

V-g I respectfully disagree . It would take far more than 250 million to buy Wilan and its patents.(IMO) . You are looking at today's negative reaction by investors who have little regard for Wilan. A successful win by Apple in US could bring us 200million cash in next 4 months assuming we only get original jury verdict.  109 million plus up dates for post iphone 7. or a possible

[astutein]

Cabbie- Difference of opinion  and views is great as long as it based upon on factual and reasonable views.  In this  regard I would like  to comment as follows re divesture of Wilan and current headwinds. Quarterhill ITS INC is a separate corporate entity Incorported Aug 5 2021 C# 13238032. All of  ITS segments are probably in the process of being transferred to

[cabbieJBJ]

Astutein, I think you are missing my point. Any divestiture of Wilan would be based on the ITS opportunities it could fund today rather than in future years. No emotions. The summary judgment in the Amazon siri IP case has served to clarify how much that IP is worth today in the Wilan portfolio. I'm disappointed, but appreciate the clarity. The CAFC decision on the Apple case is a further

[astutein]

Cabbie -Right or wrong my point is simple terms. Wilan funds was the one who hired Paul and created IRD.  Now we have talk right or wrong on divesting and getting rid of our creator. As shareholder of Quarterhill we should sit back and let situation unfold in the new Wilan direction of semis and let facts convince institutional investors of Wilan"s value. Apple's 2 cases alone

[mrmoribund]

Well, let's hope the revenues will be going up dramatically. Because the expenses certainly will be. Keeping the faith.