Good evening,

Yes, we have received a takeover bid. But no, we can’t tell you the price.

That’s how QANTM Intellectual Property responded to Street Talk’s revelation the small cap has received a privatisation proposal. In its ASX filings on Tuesday, it said it had granted due diligence to UK-based intellectual property firm Rouse International Holdings, trusting it to eventually come back with a binding bid.

No mention of price, or how long the due diligence would last. The Sonia Petering-chaired board also declined to inform shareholders if Rouse was offering cash or scrip.

The crappy disclosure, although not illegal, looks worse when you consider QANTM had at least two other suitors: Quadrant Private Equity and Adamantem Capital. Its ASX statement made no allusions to this interest, instead rattling off “potential strategic benefits of a combination of two complementary businesses” as a reason for opening the books to Rouse.

Sources suggested the board had rushed into talks with Rouse to get angry investors off its back. On November 24, a whopping 60.49 per cent of them – or four times the required number – voted down the remuneration report. While docking directors’ pay must have been satisfying, it doesn’t come close to compensating investors for the 45 per cent drop in QANTM’s market value since it listed.

For shareholders, a takeover may be the only light at the end of the tunnel, with QANTM’s recent record earnings yet to be tested for longevity. Street Talk will also be keeping an eye on $1.6 billion ASX-listed peer IPH Limited, which lobbed a bid in 2018 but was turned away.

We’ll finish by filling in some more gaps for QANTM shareholders.

Rouse’s due diligence is expected to last six weeks and is all but exclusive – meaning any competing suitor will have to sit on the sidelines.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

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Curiosities on Jarden’s balance sheet, obtained by Street Talk, include combined current and non-current liabilities, lack of earnings by business unit, and thin detail around working capital.

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