(By Balaseshan) InterDigital Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC) said its certain subsidiaries have agreed to sell roughly 1,700 patents and patent applications to Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) for $375 million in cash, in a strategic step to expand the monetization of its growing intellectual property portfolio.
The agreement involves patents primarily related to 3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution) and 802.11 technologies. The accounting for the patent sale transaction is still being finalized.
However, InterDigital expects that a significant portion of the gross proceeds from the transaction will be recognized as revenue in the period in which the transaction closes, which is anticipated to be the third quarter of 2012.
In addition, InterDigital expects to record a related charge of about $3 million in the second quarter of 2012 to increase its accrual for the company's long-term compensation program cycle ending December 31, 2012.
InterDigital is committed to its goal of generating $800 million in sustainable annual revenue in the next three to five years.
Separately, InterDigital said its board of directors has authorized an increase to the company's existing stock repurchase program, which was announced May 4, 2012, from $100 million to $200 million.
InterDigital also confirmed its second quarter revenue guidance of about $71 million, which includes about $9 million for the sale of four patent families in a separate transaction, as disclosed in the company's May 4 guidance release.
This revenue guidance does not include the potential impact of any additional new license or sale agreements that may be signed during second quarter 2012 or the potential impact of any royalties identified in audits regularly conducted by the company.
InterDigital is an active developer of advanced wireless technologies including WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access) and HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access) 3G technologies as well as LTE and LTE-Advanced 4G technologies.
Over the past three decades, InterDigital's R&D team has developed a portfolio of about 20,000 patents and patent applications spanning fundamental wireless technologies that have shaped the cellular industry. So after the close of the Intel transaction, InterDigital's portfolio will have close to 18,500 patents and applications.
InterDigital's patents portfolio will continue to grow at a healthy pace, adding at least 1,000 issued patents each year, setting the stage for potential additional patent sales without materially impacting the company's licensing program.
In connection with the Intel transaction, Evercore Partners acted as financial advisor and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati acted as legal counsel to InterDigital.
IDCC is trading up 0.04% at $22.89 on Monday, while INTC trades up 0.48% at $27.47.