Patent-rich companies ripe for takeover
By Mark Dunne on November 04 2008
Patent-rich ventures with healthy balance sheets and low market valuations are perfect acquisition targets for companies seeking to expand, according to exclusive research by Business XL.
Conducted in association with patent-mapping specialist CambridgeIP, Business XL has identified AIM’s 68 most IP-intensive companies, which hold more than 5,000 patents between them, and has named the largest, smallest, best-performing, most cash-rich companies on the market.
The study reveals that the ten most patent-rich companies on the market have filed more than 2,500 patents, while the ten most cash-rich intellectual property (IP) companies have £242 million on their combined balance sheets.
After Imperial Innovations, the technology transfer arm of Imperial College London, automotive technology developer Transense Technologies and fuel cell specialist IdaTech ranked second and third respectively as the most patent rich small caps on the market.
Currently valued by the market at under £7 million, Transense has 361 patented technologies on its books and therefore has one of the lowest price-per-patent ratios in the study. While US-based IdaTech is appealing but less of a bargain with at total of 357 patents and a valuation of around £48 million.
