License Strategy Delivers Competitive Edge

EverEdge assisted a dairy manufacturing giant in the formulation of a licensing negotiation strategy to acquire a critical new piece of technology that would significantly increase the manufacturer’s competitive advantage.

The client is a large New Zealand dairy cooperative and exporter. Its revenue accounts for a significant proportion of New Zealand’s total GDP.

EverEdge’s client had developed a new technology which provided a significant competitive advantage against its offshore rivals and enabled it to deliver product more effectively and flexibly. A key part of applying the technology meant using standard industry machinery in a new way. However, this machinery was supplied by multiple overseas manufacturers who, once aware of the equipment’s new application, could potentially supply the client’s competitors.

Negotiations to purchase the equipment needed to be swift, exclusive and discrete so as to not alert competitors to the potential opportunity. With little direct experience in the area of technology acquisition, the client approached EverEdge to help it formulate a negotiation strategy that would enable it to achieve these goals.

We worked closely with key client staff to fully understand the drivers for the client and the bigger market picture. We then completed a comprehensive review of the intellectual property behind the various target technologies. In depth research was also conducted around the dynamics of equipment market and the suppliers in the industry. From here a detailed outline of the dairy manufacturer’s commercial and negotiation options emerged – it was determined that licensing, not corporate acquisition or mere supply would be the most effective path to follow.

The next step was to develop a comprehensive, stage-by-stage negotiation blueprint to acquire each piece of technology (some in parallel, some in isolation), including a detailed outline of the “must haves” and “nice to haves” for each technology from a licensing perspective. We advised on the formation of a strong negotiation team within the manufacturer and helped to coach them on the license negotiation plan which would be executed over a 12 month period.

EverEdge provided the client with a clear go forward plan to secure its competitive advantage and ensured the internal team had the capability to deliver against the plan. Negotiations were successful and the client is now strongly positioned against competitors in a key industry segment.