Dick,
<<In your opinion what are the odds that a Far East company would enter the fray to buy SEG? >>
As you have already stated when you posed the question it is a long shot. Nevertheless, both Fujitsu and Sony have been heavily rumored to have looked closely at acquisitions and those rumors have included Seagate, Maxtor, and Western-Digital. I do not think it is worth trying to put any odds on this due to the speculative extremity of it but it is as good a possibility as any. One thing we have not talked about is the Seagate that would result from the deal. It is natural that we haven't because it isn't investable and that is what we are all about. But imagine what kind of Seagate that would be. Suddenly it will be a company, sitting at the top of the heap of the disk drive industry, at a point in time that this industry is expected by most observers to undergo a renaissance. Further, it will be unfettered by SEC regulations and led by one of the greater deal makers in a history of deal makers. Put simply, Seagate will become the junkyard dogs that they are, in their heart of hearts. Now if you were Fujitsu, or IBM, or Maxtor, etc. what would you be thinking?
Best,
Stitch |
