Acacia Research has signed a letter of intent to buy the assets of an Illinois-based private patent holding company. The buy would give Acacia rights to 27 new patent portfolios, including patents pertaining to peer-to-peer technology and interstitial Internet advertising, the company said December 16.
Announcing the letter of intent, Acacia said their deal with Global Patent Holdings would involve payment of $5 million in cash and about 3.9 million shares of Acacia Research stock at the close of the deal, plus another $2 million in cash payable over two years.
"This acquisition," Acacia chief executive Paul Ryan said in a formal announcement, "would significantly expand and widely diversify our revenue-generating opportunities, and would accelerate the execution of our business strategy of acquiring, developing, and licensing patented technologies by two to three years."
The acquisition would give the Acacia Technologies Group control of companies with 27 patent portfolios, which include 121 U.S. patents and certain foreign counterparts, and cover technologies used in a wide variety of industries. Eleven of the patent portfolios have been partially licensed and have generated over $40 million in non-recurring, gross licensing revenues to date.
Acacia said the deal would close in 45 days pending what the company called completion of final due diligence.
Global Patent Holdings is a privately held patent holding company based in Northbrook, Illinois, which owns 11 patent licensing companies including TechSearch, LLC. In addition to patents tied to P2P and Internet advertising, the portfolios Acacia wants to buy from GPH cover aspects of such technologies as broadcast equipment, broadcasting and data transmission, encryption and product activation, data file synchronization, image resolution or enhancement, spreadsheet programs, video noise reduction, audio-video synchronization, and others.
Acacia said it would not divulge details of any of the patents in the portfolios in question until after the deal is closed and final.
Ryan said Acacia's goal is to become the top technology licensing company, and that Acacia would continue acquiring patent portfolios.
"The concept of Acacia doing due diligence seems to be a bit disingenuous, since they said they didn't do due diligence on their last patents and we see where that's gotten them," New Destiny/Homegrown Video chief Spike Goldberg said of the Acacia/Global Patent Holdings deal.
Goldberg’s company is co-leading the Adult Internet's legal challenge to Acacia's Digital Media Transmission streaming media patent claims.
"It seems as if Acacia's just rushing to change the bitter taste in the mouths of the investors," Goldberg added.
"Having failed to make good on their promise to use the V-chip patent and now having a hard time making good on their streaming patent, once again Acacia's taking a turn at the wheel," said Goldberg's co-challenge leader, VS Media chief Greg Clayman.
