Added contracts from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Retrophin, including agreements involving Martin Shkreli.
Category: technology
Last week, GT Advanced Technologies Inc., a company formerly known as GT Solar International, Inc., filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code. The company is seeking a reorganization and will continue to operate their business.
On October 31, 2013, GTAT Corporation had entered into a prepayment agreement with Apple Inc. Under the agreement, Apple had agreed to make a prepayment of $578 million in advance for the purchase of sapphire goods under the Master Development and Supply Agreement and the Statement of Work. GTAT had already received three installments of $440 million so far.
Pursuant to paragraph 6 of the prepayment agreement, Apple may demand repayment of the entire prepayment balance if GTAT is subject to an insolvency proceeding. This will be stayed as a result of the bankruptcy filing.
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Audience Inc. Contracts
Audience Inc. recently issued a press release that “it is unlikely that OEM (Apple Inc.) will enable Audience’s processor IP in its next generation mobile phone.”
Audience Inc. contracts have been added to the site, including the Master Development and Supply Agreement, as well as the Statement of Work, between Apple Inc. and Audience Inc.
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Foxconn Clause
While looking at some Plantronics Inc. contracts, I spotted this interesting Development and Manufacturing Agreement between Plantronics B.V. and GoerTek, Inc. which contained a Foxconn Clause. Basically, Plantronics conditionally agreed to not use Foxlink/Foxconn as a supplier of Bluetooth or corded headsets.
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Apple’s China Problem
The New York Times has been going after Apple lately. Read How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work and In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad for a critical report on Apple’s manufacturing partners in China.
Even without nagging from the Times, Apple recognizes the issues at hand according to a recent Form 10-Q:
The Company depends on component and product manufacturing and logistical services provided by outsourcing partners, many of whom are located outside of the U.S.
Substantially all of the Company’s manufacturing is performed in whole or in part by a few outsourcing partners primarily located in Asia. The Company has also outsourced much of its transportation and logistics management. While these arrangements may lower operating costs, they also reduce the Company’s direct control over production and distribution. It is uncertain what effect such diminished control will have on the quality or quantity of products or services, or the Company’s flexibility to respond to changing conditions. Although arrangements with these partners may contain provisions for warranty expense reimbursement, the Company may remain responsible to the consumer for warranty service in the event of product defects. The Company also relies on its partners to adhere to the Company’s supplier code of conduct. Any unanticipated product defect or warranty liability, whether pursuant to arrangements with outsourcing partners or otherwise, or material violations of the supplier code of conduct, could materially adversely affect the Company’s reputation, financial condition and operating results.
The supply and manufacture of many critical components is performed by sole-sourced outsourcing partners in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Single-sourced outsourcing partners in Asia perform final assembly of substantially all of the Company’s hardware products. If manufacturing or logistics in these locations is disrupted for any reason including, but not limited to, natural and man-made disasters, information technology system failures, military actions or economic, business, labor, environmental, public health, or political issues, the Company’s financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.
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Commercial in Confidence Contracts
I was searching for “commercial in confidence” contracts using the full-text search on the EC EDGAR website. While the FAQs state that quotation marks may be used to search for an exact phrase, it also states: “The results set will not be limited only to that phrase, however, and may also include conceptually related phrases.” Unfortunately, the results were too cluttered with “conceptually related phrases” instead of actual contracts marked as commercial in confidence.
To find “commercial in confidence” contracts in securities filings, I ended up turning to Google: site:google.brand.edgar-online.com “commercial in confidence”.
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3M Purchase Agreement
Who actually reads the Terms & Conditions prior to completing an online purchase of consumer goods? After all, we all expect nothing more than one unremarkable paragraph after another of boilerplate. At least, until it is not. The following paragraph stood out while I was glancing through the T&Cs / Purchase Agreement.
BUYER may not resell, distribute or transfer as part of commercial activity the PRODUCT(S) purchased on shop3M.com to any third party.
So, if you buy a pack of bandages from the manufacturer, you cannot resell them?
Just added Sun Microsystems Inc. contracts, including the Agreement and Plan of Merger between Oracle and Sun.
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No Right to Privacy
Valleywag: Wear Tinfoil Hats When Using Adobe Products. You’re not the only one watching what you do in Adobe Creative Suite 3, the company’s ubiquitous photo-and-design software package. Adobe is watching you, too.
Yeah, so is AT&T and the CIA. By now, you should have figured out that all your online activities are being monitored. So much for the anonymous web. But, when I run a local application, why does it have to log my activity with a third party? John Nack on Adobe answers, but seriously. Giving Adobe the benefit of the doubt? Hey, most of us don’t even trust our own government, but that’s another story. I’ve posted the Omniture Inc. contracts to the collection.
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Mark Cuban Takes on StoresOnline, Inc.
blog maverick: Are You Ready to Claim YOUR Share of the Billions in Revenue on the Internet? That’s what invitation from C. R. Sanderson said. Its also the invitation I had been waiting on for a long time. Why? Because it came from StoresOnline. StoresOnline is a public company that i have been short in the past, but currently don’t have a position in.
The SEC lists the company as Imergent Inc. I’ve added Imergent Inc. contracts to the website. If you visit the StoresOnline website, check out their technology blog. Having visited a fair share of blogs, I’m not sure I would call their blog a blog. And, what’s up with “Visit the Blog as often as you wish, as it will be updated regularly.” The last post by the “Resource Administrator” was April 3. Uh, that’s four months ago.