InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[The Count]

We will all take $75

if it is the highest offer. While many of us may believe that IDCC could easily exceed that price based on fundamentals (especially with a positive CAFC decision), the majority of the stock is held by institutions. Danny Detail or anyone else with experience in this area can correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is that they would choose to sell at $75 rather than wait for IDCC to execute on its business plan to bring the price up. They need winners, and IDCC at $75 is a big winner for everyone who held it before the announcement of the sale. Bonuses are based on current performance. So my opinion is that the institutions will agree to a sellout rather than let the stock price fall back to the $40s. If the majority of the stockholders are willing to accept the offer, it's a done deal.

Before people get crazy, I'm not predicting that's what we will be sold for. The key is having multiple bidders for IDCC. At that point what our rock bottom acceptable price is not relevant. It will be about how much the second highest bidder is willing to pay. We will be sold for a bit more than that amount. My one concern is that Apple or an Apple led group may face antitrust issues in light of their purchase of the Nortel patents. If they are buying it to prevent Google from getting cross licensing power, the DOJ may step in. Take Apple out of the equation and the bidding war doesn't look nearly as explosive.