Aon Targets M&A Market with Intellectual Property Assessment Offering

Insurance broker Aon has launched the Quality of Intellectual Property (QoIP) Solution that is designed to help companies receive higher transaction value by specifically articulating the quality of the seller’s IP portfolio in the M&A and capital markets.

QoIP is the latest in a series of offerings Aon has introduced to the market through its IP Solutions. It is designed to more clearly value IP in sale transactions and financing situations alike, including venture capital and private equity investments. QoIP can also help buyers assess IP during due diligence efforts.

Lewis Lee, CEO of IP Solutions at Aon, said the product can be used by deal teams to catalogue IP with greater precision, describe its connection to the enterprise’s revenue streams and strategy, and benchmark it against competing IP portfolios.

Intangible assets today are nearly 85% of the total asset value in the S&P 500, Aon noted, but in most transactions, IP-intensive companies fail to effectively articulate the role of their IP as a source of enterprise value. It is instead relegated to a confirmatory due diligence item considered in the late stages of the deal, after value and terms have been negotiated. This process gap leads to value leakage for companies of all stages and sizes, the company said.

The QoIP product produces a report that focuses on high-impact themes enabling a company and its advisors to make the IP discussion more tangible in an M&A or capital markets transaction.

The report:

• Catalogues the IP portfolio, including patents, trade secrets and trademark / brand assets
• Highlights core technologies that are protected by patents and trade secrets
• Identifies competitive advantages that are enabled by the IP
• Defines IP coverage of existing and future revenue streams
• Benchmarks IP coverage and quality against competitor portfolios

Aon’s IP Solutions, part of Aon’s New Ventures Group (NVG), assesses and values IP assets, leveraging an IP analytics platform. The recent launch of its IP Capital Market Solution, as an example, focused on leveraging IP assets to serve as collateral in an insurance-enabled debt structure for growth capital that avoids dilution.

NVG, which comprises a team of senior leaders, was formed in the fourth quarter of 2018 to help the Aon United growth strategy by creating new sources of value for clients.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Property Aon