Hi Dave,
I'm starting to think Westell will be acquired. I also think the most likely suitor is Lucent, but I don't think we'll see it till Oct when Lucent can use pooling of assets accounting. If Westell were to be sold for cash the trust would lose a fortune to taxes, I think it would have to be a stock deal.
I think if Westell is to be sold, they are either sold already, or they will not be sold at all.
I see Westell like a contract option. Their time premium is running out. That is, the unique equipment they have devaluates the farther out in time we go. (What does not devaluate is their field experience and that is worth something).
The other day the CEO of PAIR was on CNBC and responded to a possible merger question by saying they would "like to be talking to LU". Now that would be scary for Westell wouldn't it?
Just for the sake of argument, to prove the point, imagine what would happen if Alcatel were to buy Westell, Alcatel would have solutions for the Litespan, Lucents SLC and maybe 5ESS. Can Lucent afford to take that risk?
I think that if Westell were such a strong key player one of the other gorillas different from LU would be making a play for them NOW. But it does not look like that is happening. At this moment it makes me believe that Westell is not the most important player standing on the chess board.
When or if a buyout does happen, somebody will spill the beans at least a few days in advance and the stock volume will start to rise.
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