There is a ton of dirt happening in the world of M&A right now. There are many deals to watch and many deals that “may be” items to watch. Some are confirmed, some are pending, and some are merely speculated.
ArcSight, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARST) is the latest company that has put itself on the block. Reports from last week that the company had put itself up for sale sent shares literally from $28 to above $36 and the end of week close was $39.66. This is a company that many investors have forgotten about before the headlines hit and the talk is that it could fetch $40 per share. With shares so near that price, it may be time for some reservation here for the company that offers security management solutions that protect enterprises and government agencies.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) may be acquiring Skype if TechCrunch got its story correct. Skype is on deck for an IPO later this year, but it may have to agre3e to a deal if Cisco will pay up for this. Cisco could take its Telepresence right to the masses with this acquisition and it would likely move to more of a telecom-lite model if so.
Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) and UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) managed to secure DOJ approval despite the dominance that this merger will give the company over its competitors and over its customers. Shares are likely to trade up marginally for Continental and UAL, although despite this merger being bad for America it was always expected to receive approval.
Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) is indicated higher after Sanofi-Aventis confirmed a $69.00 bid to the company. The problem is that Genzyme is not necessarily playing along. Management seems stuck on the old $80+ high at a time that the company is still recovering from its virus and manufacturing issues.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) may have lowered guidance to a level that was acceptable on Friday, but it add to its McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) acquisition on Monday. Intel is spending $1.4 billion for the wireless chip unit as it expands and expands away from just processors.
3PAR, Inc. (NYSE: PAR) closed at $32.46 on Friday, $2.46 above the current H-P bid of $30.00 per share. The premium is here as there is a bidding war and as investors feel that Dell will raise its offer as it has been doing so far. 3PAR was deemed an expensive buyout at $18 and then at $24, and now it is a praised deal. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) is ahead of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), although this merger has changed on what feels like an hour to hour basis.
As of this writing, Jon Ogg did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
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