Baker Hughes-Verdande deal demonstrates IP strategy’s M&A value

Oil-field services giant takes minority stake in GJE client's subsidiary.

September 2011

Verdande Technology last week praised GJE's role in the successful completion of a deal that saw oil-field services giant Baker Hughes take a minority stake in Verdande Technology subsidiary Verdande Energy.

GJE, lead by partner Peter Finnie worked with Verdande from January 2009 to develop a commercially-focused intellectual property strategy. "The initial strategy that Peter proposed was effective and has clearly showed its value" said Lars Olrik, Chief Executive Officer of Verdande Technology. "What was most impressive was the way that the whole GJE team followed it through; quick and always responsive, helpful and constructive. They offered support and worked extremely hard during the due diligence and negotiation process" he added.

Stage by stage

Starting with an initial IP audit designed to uncover each aspect of Verdande's innovative software. GJE went on to suggest which inventions were most appropriate for patent protection and which should remain secret. The team also carried out a detailed analysis of the patent landscape and explored the potential for exploitation. The resulting analysis and international patent portfolio provided a firm foundation for the deal, giving Baker Hughes the confidence that it was investing in robustly-protected technology. GJE also worked closely with both companies on IP due diligence matters as the deal was finalised.

Verdande's DrillEdge software helps drilling companies spot and resolve potential problems before they become critical. Case-based reasoning is used to match real time sensor data from the drill-shaft with a database of past events. The result is a real-time bridge between past experience and current operations that reduces risk and non-productive time, while improving drilling performance.

You can read more about GJE's structured approach to making the most of intellectual property assets, here(pdf)