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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

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