Agreed. The fact that he referenced partnership occurring "soon" or "near term" (can't remember exact wording) leads me to believe that the talks are underway, or perhaps agreed upon, and it's just a matter of the drawing up and signing of the deal. Otherwise, I don't think he would have used that language - and would have said something like "later this year", etc.

In terms of timing, being realistic, I'm hopeful that we hear of a finalized agreement sometime in the month of June. Of course, everything takes longer than we would hope (even just getting lawyers to agree on paperwork) - but June is my optimistic guess, with July being possible (and that works too!)