3Com a Buyout Target -- WSJ

Shares of 3Com rallied in after-hours trading Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that the maker of computer networking equipment had been approached regarding a possible buyout. The Journal said private-equity firms such as Silver Lake Partners and Bain Capital LLC have approached Marlborough, Massachusetts-based 3Com about a purchase. The two firms unsuccessfully tried last year to buy 3Com's stake in a Chinese joint venture with Huawei Technologies Co. The report also said Nortel may be interested in the company. 3Com spokesman John Vincenzo and Silver Lake Partners spokesman Matthew Benson told Bloomberg their companies don't comment on rumors. UBS analyst Long Jiang said the news wasn't unexpected given the stock's "depressed" value and ongoing industry consolidation. "We think 3Com will need to significantly step up restructuring efforts for the traditional business and/or monetize its assets," Jiang told clients. 3Com, which is valued at about $1.7 billion based on Tuesday's closing price, rose more than 5% after hours.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, MarketWatch
Commentary: 3Com: Turnaround Depends on IBM Deal • 3Com: Recent Acquisition Weakens Cash Position • 3Com Corp.: Citadel Raises Stake to 9.8%, Updates on Meetings With Company
Stocks/ETFs to watch: 3Com Corp. (COMS), Nortel Networks Corp. (NT). Competitors: Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR). ETFs: iShares Dow Jones US Technology Index (IYW), PowerShares Dynamic Telecom & Wireless ETF (PTE), PowerShares Dynamic Networking (PXQ)
Earnings call transcript: 3Com F4Q07

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