IN OFFICIAL LIQUIDATION
Commercial exploitation of the IP Rights
(and proceeds from the related litigation)
to all technology ever developed by e-Traction Worldwide S.C.A. ("EWW") and its subsidiaries, e-Traction Europe B.V. ("EEU") and e-Traction North America LLC ("ENA") including TheWheel,
are being offered for sale to the highest bidder by its contractual owner: Freerider Ltd.
Freerider's Joint Official Liquidators have since their appointment on May 13th 2010 been in the process of securing the optimal return for its constituency with the sale of Freerider's assets, which include but are not limited to the following:
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1. In 2003 Freerider entered into a sale/lease-back arrangement regarding all disclosed and undisclosed intellectual property rights ever generated by EWW and its subsidiaries EEU and ENA with the following three agreements:
a. Freerider has acquired the unrestricted, perpetual, global commercial rights to all then existing intellectual property generated by EEU with the Asset Purchase Agreement (“APA”) as of July 3rd 2003.
b. Freerider has also acquired the unrestricted, perpetual, global commercial rights to all disclosed and undisclosed intellectual property rights generated by commercial and technical developments, subsequent to the aforementioned APA, by EWW and/or its subsidiaries EEU and ENA by means of the Technology Advisory Services Agreement (“TASA”) dated July 17th 2003.
c. Freerider (its successors and assigns) shall be the recipient of the anticipated string of royalties resulting from the Intellectual Property License Agreement (“IPLA”) dated July 17th 2003 by which all rights obtained by Freerider with the afore referenced APA and TASA are being licensed to EWW and its subsidiaries EEU and ENA.
2. The Intellectual Property rights registered in the name of the Company.
3. Anticipated licensing agreements with third parties for some or all of the Intellectual Property rights acquired by Freerider (its successors and assigns) for specific product classes, countries, regions or territories, etc. are said to be very valuable. For example: at the time of filing of the winding-up petition, Freerider limited had nearly reached an agreement to license all its IP rights to a South Korean entity for a lump sum of US$ 7.5 million and minimum annual (sales unit based) royalties of US$300,000. South Korea represents 1.5% of global GDP, while Freerider hold rights in countries jointly representing 85% of global GDP. Extrapolating the South Korean opportunity to a global environment could conceivably yield revenues 58 times greater (i.e. US$ 435 million upfront plus a minimum of US$17 million per annum).
4. The aforementioned nearly concluded agreement between Freerider and the South Korean became purposely obstructed by EEU, which had willfully chosen to enter into an adversary relationship with Freerider and has therefore found itself since July 2007 in litigation due to ongoing contract disputes (see below).
5. EEU has since set out to negotiate its own deal with this South Korean entity (ECONEX). Despite the fact that EEU had consented to the NY court's jurisdiction in determining the ownership rights of Freerider to the IP generated by any e-Traction entity. It was discovered on December 21st 2011 that with the knowledge of a select group of individuals and entities, EEU had covertly entered into an EUR 14 million purchase arrangement with ECONEX in the Spring of 2011 for an undisclosed portion of the IP rights that are in fact still being held by Freerider. Neither Freerider nor the exclusive owner of EEU were aware of this transaction, as part of which EEU had already received a substantial payment by the time the IP rights holder and EEU's owner became aware of it.
6. For the benefit of its constituency, in order to ensure its maximum value; the liquidators of FREERIDER (its successors and assigns) are expected to maintain and defend all assets placed under its care, including but not limited to: THE UNRESTRICTED, GLOBAL, PERPETUAL RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP TO COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION RIGHTS TO ALL EVER GENERATED WITH THE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS BY EWW AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES EEU AND ENA.
7. The anticipated proceeds from the litigation initiated by Freerider in Zutphen (NL) on October 17th 2007. Status: 1) trial has been completed, 2) interim verdict has been published, and 3) awaiting final verdict upon pending input of the litigants on a narrow aspect of New York law. Potential value as of September 2011: €9+ million.
8. The anticipated proceeds from the litigation initiated by Freerider on July 23rd 2008 in New York for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference and aiding & abetting, etc. Status: in the disclosure/deposition phase. Potential value: reaffirmation of APA, TASA and IPLA and an award of US$85 million in damages being claimed. Contingency fee arrangements available.
To obtain additional information, please contact the Joint Official Liquidators, Roy Bailey and Rob McMahon and/or Pieter le Comte (the single largest stakeholder in Freerider):
Roy Bailey: Roy.Bailey@ky.ey.com or +1 (345) 814-8920
Rob McMahon: Rob.McMahon@ky.ey.com or +1 (345) 814-9008
or write to: Ernst & Young Ltd. 62 Forum Lane, Camana Bay, Box 510 Grand Cayman KY1 - 1106, Cayman Islands
AND/OR
Pieter le Comte: plecomte@freeriderltd.com or +1 (914) 764-0295
To learn more about e-Traction's products and accomplishments, including the development of TheWheel™, its associated products and successful automotive applications thereof, please click on the image below.
