TRANSACTIONS

With the increasing importance of intangible assets and intellectual property in the US and other industrialized countries, being able to identify, value and manage these assets effectively is increasing at an equal or even faster rate than the value of the assets themselves. The corporation cannot afford to under-manage any of its assets, tangible or intangible. Among the transaction formats that we have actively managed, or co-managed with legal counsel, are the following:

• Auction—Open cry, Dutch auction, Vickery auction, (stalking horse bids and auctions)
• Stalking Horse
• Out right sale of assets or IP portfolios
• Valuation and management of asset contributions to joint ventures
• Collateralization of intellectual property for secondary or mezzanine funding
• Valuation and assembly of assets for securitization
• Fully paid up licenses

COMPLEX TRANSACTIONS

New regulations drive up the complexity of IP transactions in today’s intangible asset economy. Financial and economic reporting and control systems continue to increase in complexity and importance.  Examples of the issues raised in our financial reporting system, and related to disclosure requirements for companies, include the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Section 482 of the IRS code, FASB 141,142,144, as well as the Bankruptcy Reformat Act of 2005.  Updated rules and regulations affect all IP and intangible assets of most companies, and in all transactions:

• Categories of intangible assets used in the year 2000 and are no longer current
• Bankruptcy regulations-Vis a Vis intangible asset transactions have changed since the year 2000
• Values and valuation techniques for IP and intangibles are different today than they were in 2000
• The number of legal cases involving intangible asset transaction has troubled since the year 2000
• The accounting rules of today for intangible asset transactions are different than in the year 2000
• The very definition of IP and intangible assets has expanded and changed since the year 2000

A BROAD RANGE OF IP AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS TRANSACTIONS

• Jenny Craig.  We assisted the owners, and their investment bankers Golden Sacs, and valuing and assembling the IP portfolio of assets in order to facilitate an aggressive program to solicit bids for the company and its core intellectual property
• SRI-Atroturf.  For a bankruptcy liquidation, we valued and organized the patents, trademarks, and licenses of Astroturf into logical bundles which were then valued and offered for sale
• Tower Records.  We were engaged to find extra value for the unsecured creditors of Tower Records by identifying and bundling the assets into six logical groups.  Further, we identified, expanded financial opportunities and value for those intangible assets, including additional retail sites, and trademark licensing into new retail location expansion of the geographic breath of international franchises extension of the Tower Records brand into associated consumer products
• Collins & Aikman.  The trade secrets, technical know how, and patents of the Collins & Aikman automotive component empire needed to be identified, bundled, valued, and a sale negotiated, covering all European markets.  The technical know how included trade secrets, as well as a broad range of original concepts, including formulae, equipment settings, process software, and other systemic inputs.  A successful sale was consummated.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

            Books

            The Intangible Asset Handbook

            Intellectual Property Valuation

            Articles

            Identify, Value Leverage Your Intellectual Assets