Apple Going Private.
Hear me out on this.
Apple has approx ~4 billion in the bank. The market cap of the company today at closing bell is 5.3 billion. If the stock continues to erode, a time will come when Apple's finances make it a viable target for a corporate raid...in fact, if the economy in the tech sector wasn't so crappy, that time might be *right* *now*.
It could also give Apple an interesting opportunity--if the stock dropped further, say to a cap of 4.5B, it might make fiscal sense for Apple to raise the remaining funds and make a buyout offer to the shareholders, making it a private company.
No worries about being swallowed up in a corporate raid--no worries of the market analysts breathing down Apple's neck--there are some upsides.
Downsides: costs a lot of liquid cash, which fvcks up Apple's safety net, Apple could get weirder and more idiosyncratic if it didn't have investor pressure, which could be a Good or Bad Thing...it is interesting to consider.
What do people think?
I think it is nlikely to spring forth on its own, but if a big company gets hungry and starts licking its chops Apple might approach the shareholders and beg them for good terms to keep itself independent.
Apple has approx ~4 billion in the bank. The market cap of the company today at closing bell is 5.3 billion. If the stock continues to erode, a time will come when Apple's finances make it a viable target for a corporate raid...in fact, if the economy in the tech sector wasn't so crappy, that time might be *right* *now*.
It could also give Apple an interesting opportunity--if the stock dropped further, say to a cap of 4.5B, it might make fiscal sense for Apple to raise the remaining funds and make a buyout offer to the shareholders, making it a private company.
No worries about being swallowed up in a corporate raid--no worries of the market analysts breathing down Apple's neck--there are some upsides.
Downsides: costs a lot of liquid cash, which fvcks up Apple's safety net, Apple could get weirder and more idiosyncratic if it didn't have investor pressure, which could be a Good or Bad Thing...it is interesting to consider.
What do people think?
I think it is nlikely to spring forth on its own, but if a big company gets hungry and starts licking its chops Apple might approach the shareholders and beg them for good terms to keep itself independent.
Comments
<strong>Word is Apple has a nasty poison pill on the books which is supposedly controlled by His Steveness. That pretty much becomes the deal breaker before it even starts. This discussion happens about every six months since the dark days of 1997.
If a takeover hasn't happened by now, it starts to make the rumors on that little pill look pretty convincing.</strong><hr></blockquote>
"Poison Pill"? ... as in, maybe Apple's much deeping in debt that we know of?
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">
The only reason a company would want to take over Apple is simply because they are jealous. Thats it. Buying it won't make your company any cooler. All the key people that make Apple what it is would leave.
This Apple Tree has thorns. Poisonous ones at that.