Novell’s board of directors said ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to an unsolicited, $2 billion offer from hedge fund Elliott Associates but the software developer appears to still be open to a more attractive offer.
Enterprise Networking Planet details the company’s reluctance to sell at the price of $5.75 a share, an almost 30 percent premium above where the stock was trading prior to the takeover offer almost three weeks ago, despite the fact that it’s sales regressed on a year-over-year basis in its most recent quarter.
For now, Novell appears content to sit back and wait for a better offer or, perhaps, ride it out independently and hope that the recent traction seen in its Linux business is a harbinger of bigger and better things for one of the more intriguing independent software vendors still on the market.
Software vendor Novell isn’t going to be sold to hedge fund Elliott Associates, at least not today.
Over the weekend, Novell’s (NASDAQ:NOVL) board of directors rejected Elliott Associates’ unsolicited $5.75 a share, an offer that valued the company at $2 billion. Elliot’s March 2 bid for Novell triggered a 28 percent rise in the company’s stock price.
In a new statement, however, Novell’s board of directors said that the Elliott offer is inadequate, undervaluing Novell and its growth prospects.
