Medtronic could well have been planning to complete acquisition upon completion of Milestone 4, which remains a very viable theory given Mr. McNally's prior statement that the future of Titan Medical will be very obvious when Milestone 4 is completed. That being said, it would mean Medtronic was planning the acquisition for September or immediately thereafter, as we know that was the initial due date for Milestone 4 and earlier this year we were told it is still on schedule for September.
Milestone 4 is for delivery of a functional prototype of... something... which requires "custom metal" parts from Europe, the delivery of which has been reported to be delayed due to COVID, but is anticipated to allow completion of Milestone 4 by the end of this year. Delivery of a prototype or even a few prototypes out of Chapel Hill would not typically require anything custom made in Europe; the added risk of shipping alone (including Customs) would logically rule out that option. So there must be a reason for that vendor to have been selected, such as maybe that vendor is already a favored supplier for other Medtronic parts and they don't want the hassle of introducing another supplier to their supply chain, including checking certs and validating capabilities and all the other BS required for a medical device manufacturer to bring on a new supplier. So my hypothesis remains that the vendor in question is a Medtronic supplier and Titan was told to use them for said parts.
So if Medtronic told Titan to use said supplier, and the delay is because of this choice of supplier, would it be fair to Titan and their dedicated shareholders to delay acquisition merely because your tier 2 supplier had COVID issues when trying to fulfill Titan's purchase order? If everything else was potentially being lined up for a September or early October acquisition, why would they want to kill that momentum? At this juncture I'm quite sure Mr. Martha knows exactly what is being designed, built, and delivered for fulfillment of the Milestone.
Meanwhile, patents are being approved at an astronomical rate (by patent office standards) and each of those should be driving Titan's real value and therefore acquisition price up substantially. There is therefore a sound logical argument to acquire as per the original plans, and a moral requirement to not impose a delay in acquisition merely because Medtronic wanted to save themselves some legwork when eventually putting this prototype hardware into production.
Next catalyst? I don't know for sure, but I have just outlined what I'm hoping for... Acquisition would be the ultimate catalyst!
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What’s everyone’s guess for the next catalyst? I’m getting bored.
