Skip to main content

Let the hunt begin !

As predicted in last week's blog, 3PAR saga ended with HP winning the bid at $33. However in the race to win 3PAR at any cost, it ended up paying at least half a billion more. Only time would tell if HP was winner or loser in this race. Potash saga would continue for few more weeks - just read news that Chinese state companies (Sinochem etc) may be preparing a counter-bid for Potash. It would be interesting given price tag would be over $40 Billion

So who is next "hunted" in the hunt which has started in last few weeks. Here are some of my predictions - these companies could get "hunted" and get acquired in next 2 years (CP: Current Price, PTP: Potential takeover price)


  1. Blue Coat - BCSI (CP: $21.50 ; PTP: over $30)
  2. Compellent - CML (CP: $18.50 ; PTP: over $25)
  3. Brocade - BRCD (CP: $5.60 ; PTP: Over $8)
  4. Symantec - SYMC (CP: $14 ; PTP: Over $19)
  5. Sprint Nextel - S (CP: $4 ; PTP: Over $6)
  6. Regions Financial - RF (CP: $7 PTP: Over $10)
  7. Synovus Financial - SNV (CP: $2.3 PTP: Over $4)
  8. Huntsman Corporation - HUN (CP: $9.5 PTP: Over $15)
  9. SandRidge Energy - SD (CP: $4.3 ; PTP: Over $7)
Here are couple of private equity potential targets:
  1. Kodak - EK (CP: $4 ; PTP: $7) due to its patents in digital imaging area
  2. RRI Energy - RRI (CP: $3.7 ; PTP: $5.5) due to its cash flow. Would be similar to DYN deal
Overall markets got some direction last week due to good news on PMI and employment front. Lot of folks are wondering why markets went up even if unemployment inched higher at 9.6%.  The key point they missed is private companies have created over 235000 in last three months. While this is just barely enough to keep a lid on unemployment, it's nonetheless positive signal. US needs about half a million jobs created every month to get real momentum. It does not look likely at least for next few months due to complete halt in Washington due to election paralysis. Mr. President really needs to get momentum going on new ways to stimulus economy and even extend Bush tax cuts by couple of years to get republicans on board.

That's all for now. Have a great week !

/Shyam

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2024: The year of.....

Wishing you a joyful New Year filled with laughter, love, and unforgettable moments, surrounded by cherished family and friends. May the 2024 bring similar gains as in 2023! I had great 2 weeks break with travels to Turkey with family and then solo trip to Palm Springs. Both places are amazing and definitely worth a visit if you get chance. Talking about gains in 2023 - Here is recap of 2023.. Inflation fallen below 4% and heading towards 3% Unemployment firmly below 4% Real wages growing above 4% GDP growth around 3% Markets: S&P notching one of the best year with 24% gains while Nasdaq doing even better with 40% gains thanks to Magnificent-7 (or TAMMANNA) many of which had triple digit gains My personal recommendations did exceptionally well - many of which were up by high double digits (e.g. INTC) and some of them had triple digit gains (e.g. META) All in all - 2023 was great year.  As calendar changed to 2024, what's in store for new year? This is election year in many coun
Post a Comment
Read more

Roaring 20s....Again!

About 2 years back coming out of COVID pandemic, I wrote blog titled " New Roarin' 20s.."  It covered what happened in 1920s and what are the factors now which would trigger new roaring 20s. Do check out the blog...almost all factors are valid even now. 2022 went sideways due to inflation pressures which triggered historical steep rate hikes by central banks which led to tech companies taking more measured approach and laying off 200,000 employees....all of that changed in Nov'22 when ChatGPT was launched...even though I had mentioned AI/ML as one of the factor in my previous blog, ChatGPT really captured the imagination of the world and changed the outlook of AI instantly similar to what Netscape did with the Internet and iPhone did with the mobile. The singular concept of "Language is the Interface" made AI accessible instantly to billions of normal people....And now without mentioning AI, no talk starts or ends in tech world..and despite onsite of most-aw
Post a Comment
Read more

It was not meant to be...

I imagined today' day (Nov 19, 2023) little differently than what it turned out to be..had a watch gathering at my place with few friends for India vs Aus ICC Cricket World Cup Final. Both teams deserved to be in the final - India winning all games in this tournament and Aus winning last 8 games after initially losing 2 games at start of tournament. The match was being played at the biggest stadium in the world (over 132,000 capacity) and over billion people tuning in...maybe most watched single sports event ever. After Australia won the toss, they choose to field (that's what most likely India wanted). India started well but then wickets kept dropping and India ended with total of 240 all out. That's when all of us knew that the dream of winning third world cup is over...despite one of the best bowling squad India ever had....The score was just not enough even for the best bowling to defend against one of the most professional and mentally strong team....No wonder Australi
Post a Comment
Read more