Marc, After trying to no avail on Friday, I just got through
to Zilogs CFO, Bob Collins. He told me Zilog/employees
could not purchase shares until after they report earnings
on the 21st. However, he did not know of any reason
why the takeover party, Texas/Pacific Group, was not
able to purchase shares on the market. When I mentioned
that the current price implied that the takeover was
not going happen if TPG could purchase shares below
$25, he responded that was puzzling but might be
explained by the very low volume.
It is true that volume is low -- today so far just 8100 shares
after trading more than 1.5 million of a total of about 20
million on the pre-warning day. If the potential gain
is below TPG's radar screen (or not worth potential
complications) and if Zilog and its insiders are forbidden
to act till the 21st, everything might be OK. Nevertheless,
Roger Babb, an SI poster I respect, did tell me to
"beware" since the present price implied
that insiders thought the deal might not happen. I
guess, I will have to watch with an eagle eye what
happens after earnings are actually announced,
i.e. the time when ZLG insiders are allowed to trade. |
