Cisco just pay more for them…! You know you have the mula for it…
Yesterday, Cisco was down 4 cents at $24.34 and “The current bid is 153.50 crowns per share.. and the bid might have to increase by 170 crowns.” What the heck is a crown?
Update: Cisco said in a statement that it could not comment on the Tandberg holders move, but that it has previously said it is offering a fair price. Here’s the full text of their response, which comes from a spokesperson for the company:
“We are aware of statements made by Tandberg shareholder[s] and as we are currently in the middle of a tender offer process, we are not able to comment. We have stated previously that we believe we are paying a fair price for a quality asset and our offer comes recommended by the Tandberg Board of Directors. As noted in Tandberg’s communications to the Oslo Exchange, Cisco’s offer represents a 38.3% premium to the closing share price on July 15 – which is one day prior to major media reports of a possible transaction.”
Update 2: William Blair analyst Jason Ader asserts that there is a high probability that Cisco will raise its offer, noting that Cisco is paying only an 11% premium to the price of the stock on the day before the bid. He thinks they could cinch the deal by offering 10%-15% more – or the 170 crown price noted above. He says this is a highly strategic deal for Cisco, and that walking away now “would be contradictory and puzzling to Cisco shareholders, especially given Cisco’s huge cash reserves.”
Cisco has pretty much declared war on H-P and IBM and H-P and IBM want to come back and get into Cisco’s key markets and that the ethernet space which is a $20 billion market opportunity every year. Brocade will most likely gain share as a result of this rivalry. 