- Following data warehousing software vendor Informatica's $5.3B deal to be taken private (follows deals for Tibco and Riverbed), Stifel thinks PC virtualization/thin client software vendor Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) could be next on the block. It even goes as far as to argue a $110/share buyout price (nearly 75% above current levels) is possible.
- Mizuho's Abhey Lamba thinks both Citrix and enterprise backup/restore software vendor CommVault (NASDAQ:CVLT) could be targeted. "Both stocks are currently trading around 3x EV/revenue and we would not be surprised to see activist shareholders become more involved if these companies continue having execution issues. Applying the above transaction multiples, CTXS could be valued at $75-100/share and CVLT could be valued at $55-60/share."
- MKM's Kevin Buttigieg also argues Citrix is a possible activist target. "CTXS’ margins have lagged peers through a variety of lenses ... The 2015 reorg goes beyond merely reducing headcount and fixed costs which it should — CTXS needs to change the way it goes to market in order to realize greater synergies across its various product lines."
- Citrix and CommVault both rose fractionally in regular trading. The Citrix M&A speculation comes amid ongoing execution shakeups and departures. Sudhakar Ramakrishna, SVP/GM of Citrix's Enterprise and Service Provider Technology division (a major product strategy role), recently departed, after which Citrix eliminated his position. The GM of Citrix's PC/app virtualization ops also recently left. Long-time sales chief Al Monserrat's departure was announced in January; EMEA sales chief Carlos Sartorius has replaced him.
- Meanwhile, Citrix has announced it's buying Grasshopper, a provider of cloud-based VoIP phone services for SMBs, for an undisclosed sum. Grasshopper, whose solution (like those of peers) requires no hardware installations, claims over 150K customers.