Comverse Board Decides To Find A Buyer

Comverse (CMVT), a company that became a focal point of the stock-options backdating scandal when former CEO Kobi Alexander fled to Nambia in an effort to avoid prosecution, has decided to put itself up for sale, according to the Israeli web site Haaretz.com.

If there is one person who has to be delighted about this, it is Daniel Ives, an analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey, who has been predicting for months that the company would eventually be sold.

In a note Tuesday morning, Ives writes that a realistic break-up value for the company would be in the high 20s or low 30s. Ives thinks the communications equipment maker could attract both financial and strategic buyers.

Ives maintains an Outperform rating on the stock - which by the way now trades on the Bulletin Board, having been tossed off Nasdaq for reasons related to its stock-option debacle. He writes that he would “encourage investors to continue accumulating shares at current levels.”