Summary: Months after RPX executives left and even Microsoft canceled its membership the company as a whole gets sold to a private equity firm

THE patents-hoarding pool known as RPX is dangerous not only because it deals with USPTO-granted patents (i.e. many software patents) but also because months ago it was rumoured it would be sold to a patent troll, Erich Spangenberg. Like Red Hat, which pursues software patents while providing nonaggression assurances, there's no way to guarantee/enforce such pledges upon buyout/takeover.

The patent trolls' lobby (IAM) has reported on the buyout of RPX. The article is composed by their most ferocious proponent of trolls and software patents, with help from IAM's editor (see note at the bottom) and the buyer is called HGGC, an entity which Wikipedia describes as "a middle-market private equity firm based in Palo Alto, California, with over $4.25 billion of cumulative capital commitments". From IAM:

RPX is set to be sold to private equity outfit HGGC in an all-cash deal that values the defensive aggregator at $555 million. The acquisition - at $10.50 a share - was announced this morning and brings to an end months of speculation about the firm's future.

HGGC is based in Palo Alto and, according to its website, currently has $4.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments. One of its co-founders is American football Hall of Famer Steve Young. Although it has a substantial portfolio of tech businesses, RPX appears to be its first investment in a standalone patent business.

[...]

That would seem to suggest that HGGC is committed to the RPX’s core offering including Inventus, the e-discovery platform which the defensive patent player bought back in 2015 for $232 million, but had been looking to sell.

While $555 million is lower than RPX's investors might have been hoping for, an all cash deal at a time of continued uncertainty in the patent market might well mean that they take the money and run. It will then be up to the senior managers who remain to work out with HGGC what to do with the firm. Given the current flux in the patent market, this could be easier said than done.

The CEO will be former Bain Capital executive Gregory M. Benson and this is their corresponding press release. It's probably too early to tell what's about to happen to RPX. The sure thing is, RPX lost much of its leadership and in case of liquidation there's a huge threat that vultures will come preying. So watch this space. ⬆