How much work is Barclays and Evercore getting done each week? I'm assuming IDCC anticipated this could get complicated, which explains why they hired two firms rather than one, but the holidays are coming up, and if they don't get the deal done before Christmas it could really slow the process down a lot more.
I think Apple and any consortium it is in, which may include QCOM is ready to get this auction over with, however I believe it is Google that is slowing things down.....
Google doe note like the patent war, they don't have many patents, and they are realizing that it is going to be expensive to catch up to the their competitors in the patent race. Google also knows that Apple will bend over backwards to prevent them from gaining more market share, and since Apple has more cash, Google probably realizes that it will be impossible to buy out IDCC even with Intel "leading the way."
So I suspect it's Google slowing down the process, I believe they are and have been interested in IDCC this whole time, but after spending $12.5 billion on MMI and losing the Nortel auction, they aren't exactly excited to go through another auction.
Assuming the deal happens, but doesn't happen till after the holidays, I expect IDCC to release a positive leak that suggests major consortia have formed and things are going well, don't know how IDCC could keep completely quiet for another month or two...
I hope they aren't waiting for that court decision, because the courts move slowly, however if the decision goes in IDCC's favor, then the buyer might have to pay more, so there is a risk on the buyer's side to wait. I wonder if the buyer(s) are worried that if they acquire IDCC, that the decision will not be in their favor...because the courts are probably more likely to help out the little guys than Apple or Google, but I could be wrong...