I would not use the term "mega transactions". Having read all the posts here, I think that alot of people still don't quite understand what an MLA is and what effect it has on OBJ as a company.
The existence of an MLA makes it easier for the businesses to work together in the future without having timelines extended due to lawyers and senior management having to be involved. If you intend on doing some work with a business in the future on a couple of different projects, it is easier to get all the legal work out of the way first - thus, get a MLA done where the lawyers and senior management can get all the details agreed.
I have been involved in multiple MLA with some of very large ASX companies. Your acquaintance is correct - they can huge and are extremely detailed. Basically they set out everything how the two companies will work together. Not uncommon for them to be 400 pages long. I have seen triple that. Basically a MLA is done because you are going to have a series or smaller contracts that are for other work (products). They reference the MLA for all the terms and conditions as to how the companies work together. So the smaller contract just focuses on the details of the specific work (product) that is relevant - it could be on a template that takes only 10 pages, or maybe even 50 pages.
The reason the MLA takes so long to work through is you have the commercial lawyers going through these negotiating EVERYTHING. It gets down to specific wording and clauses. I can't even think of everything to list, but they include things that you wouldn't even think about. These include definitions of words use, dispute resolution, fines for various breaches, incentives, payment, liability and insurances, intellectual property, employee interaction, country-specific issues plus much, much more. The MLA can be varied at any time to add or take out things.
Just because an MLA is signed, it doesn't mean that they have any obligation to use the OBJ technology. Well, probably. It depends on how the contract is worded, but P&G would not sign a contract that gives guarantees of anything involving revenue, commission or usage.
The proof of OBJ will still be in the actual revenue received and the future cashflow. This is still unproven and speculative. That is why the share price is struggling to beat 10c - the market knew that the MLA was coming and has been priced accordingly. Once some revenue starts to flow things will change, but this is unlikely to happen in the short term. Lets see where things are at by March 2017.
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