August 19, 2008
TANDBERG, a Norwegian maker of videoconferencing equipment, says it has been approached by a private equity company about a possible bid and agreed to enter "preliminary discussions" with the unidentified suitor.
There's no certainty a bid will be made, the company says.Tandberg surged as much as 21 per cent in Oslo trading, giving it a market value of 12.9 billion kroner ($2.7 billion).
A buyer would acquire a company with products including internet telephony and conferencing equipment used by clients in the energy, finance and health-care sectors.
Silver Lake Partners of the US is a likely bidder for Tandberg because it focuses on technology buyouts, SEB analyst Ole Petter Kjerkreit says.
"Tandberg's strategic value as the leading player in a rapidly growing niche positions the company as an attractive acquisition target," Kjerkreit says in a note to clients.
"We would not rule out industrial players entering the scene."
SEB advises investors to buy Tandberg shares.
Before news of the possible bid, the stock had dropped 14 per cent this year.
Silver Lake, based in Menlo Park, California, is the biggest private equity firm specialising in technology companies.
The firm, whose investments include SunGard Data Systems, was started in 1999 by Jim Davidson, Glenn Hutchins, David Roux and Roger McNamee.
Egon Durban, the managing director who oversees Silver Lake's European investments from London, didn't immediately return a call to his office seeking comment.
For the second quarter, Tandberg reported net income advanced 26 per cent to $29.3 million, while sales rose 36 per cent to $194.9 million.
The company's mandate is to "maximise shareholder value" as it negotiates with the suitor, chief executive Fredrik Halvorsen said in a telephone interview.
He declined to comment beyond the company's media release.
"Many of the financial shareholders who have been shareholders for some time view Tandberg as undervalued and expect a realistic bid to be a great deal above the current share price," Arctic Securities analyst Martin Hoff said last week.
An acquisition of Tandberg is unlikely below 140 kroner a share, he says.
The unidentified bidder may also trigger interest in Tandberg from other suitors, including Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard, Hoff says.
Tandberg is the world's second-largest maker of videoconferencing equipment behind Polycom.
Tandberg has hired JPMorgan Chase to advise it on the bid.
Bloomberg