Mosaid rejects second Wi-LAN takeover as patent houses fight
updated 07:05 pm EDT, Wed September 7, 2011
Mosaid urges turning down another Wi-LAN offer
Mosaid in a statement Wednesday pressed share owners to turn down a second, $480 million Canadian ($488 million USD) buyout offer from Wi-LAN. Following an earlier deal, Mosaid claimed that the cash being offered was "clearly inadequate and highly opportunistic." It was even more so now that Mosaid was managing 2,000 Nokia patents through a takeover of Core Wireless, chairman Carl Schlachte said.
The company, which like Wi-LAN is located in Ottawa, Canada, wanted to see how the market reacted to its getting the proxy Nokia deal before it made a decision. It was willing to merge or sell as well as to reorganize itself. Wi-LAN was mostly being rejected as Mosaid saw a chance to skim royalties from all 3G phones through the Nokia deal and that it was worth a lot more.
Wi-LAN's offer is due to expire on September 28 but isn't likely to be reciprocated without a significant increase. Mosaid hasn't given a clue as to what it considers a good target.
The two firms have regularly been branded patent trolls as they have virtually no meaningful products and instead trade solely on royalties with the threat of lawsuits. Both target the largest companies, such as Apple, Dell, HTC, and LG, and in some cases have sued multiple times.
