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Technology Stocks : Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: w0z who wrote (905)	11/23/2017 11:49:28 AM
From: Eyalro	1 Recommendation Recommended By Jim Mullens Respond to of 954

timesofisrael.com US activist investor buys stake in bid to shake up Israel’s MellanoxStarboard calling on the tech firm to cut costs, explore potential sale, The Wall Street Journal reports New York activist investor Starboard Value LP has acquired a 10.7 percent stake in Israel’s Mellanox Technologies Ltd., an Israeli maker of servers and storage switching solutions, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal said the investor is urging Mellanox to “improve its margins and stock and explore a potential sale,” citing people familiar with the matter. The acquisition could be an opening shot in a takeover bid, Israeli website Calcalist speculated Tuesday, valuing the deal at some $250 million. Starboard is a New York-based investment adviser that invests in publicly traded US companies. “Starboard invests in deeply undervalued companies and actively engages with management teams and boards of directors to identify and execute on opportunities to unlock value for the benefit of all shareholders,” its website said. In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Starboard said it had bought a 9.8% stake of shares Mellanox in the open market, with options that increase its holdings to 10.7%, with the belief that the shares, when acquired, were undervalued and represented an “attractive investment opportunity.” “Depending upon overall market conditions,” Starboard may increase or decrease its holdings in the company, which the US investor “has been following for years.” The investor said it has been noting the “growing disparity between the issuer’s margins, growth and stock price performance compared to its peer group.” “Tremendous value can be created through operational improvements or other strategic alternatives,” the investor said. Peter Feld, a principal of Starboard, is a director of Marvell Technology Group Ltd., which is a competitor, in certain lines, to Mellanox. In part, the filing said, Marvell “has expressed an interest in discussing” with Mellanox “a potential strategic transaction on a negotiated friendly basis,” but Mellanox has “declined to enter into any such discussions.” Starboard said “there are no current discussions regarding a strategic transaction” between Marvell and Starboard, and Feld, while continuing to serve as a director of Marvell, has agreed that he would recuse himself from participation in any discussions at Marvell regarding any potential interest in Mellanox, the filing said. Mellanox was founded by entrepreneur Eyal Waldman, in 1999 in Yokne’am, Israel, with the purpose of developing semiconductors for data center infrastructure based on the next generation input output (NGIO) standard. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and in Yokne’am and listed shares on Nasdaq in 2007. It has a market value of $2.6 billion. In 2011 Mellanox bought Voltaire to expand its software and switch product offerings, and strengthen its leadership position in end-to-end connectivity systems. In 2016 it completed the acquisition of Israel’s EZchip, a maker of high-performance processing solutions for carrier and data center networks. “We became aware of Starboard’s investment in Mellanox on November 20th. Mellanox maintains an open dialogue with all of our shareholders and we welcome their input and investment. In line with our commitment to drive enhanced shareholder value, the Mellanox Board of Directors and management team continually review our operational and strategic priorities and are committed to acting in the best interests of our shareholders,” Mellanox said in an emailed response. “Starboard Value might be interested in making a strategic change in Mellanox,” said Dafna Yagur, head of Israel research at the London-based broker Makor Capital by phone. “Mellanox is trading at a lower valuation than peers, as organic growth is slowing and competition intensifies. With the consolidation happening in the semiconductor industry, the investor would probably be pushing towards a sale.”

To: w0z who wrote (905)	11/27/2017 8:22:53 AM
From: brokendreams	1 Recommendation Recommended By The Ox Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 954

Well it's about time they get their butt kicked to bring in more shareholder value. Management and the current board are happy just collecting never ending stock and selling at current market value. They are the only ones profiteering. Look for Starboard to get a seat on the board and then watch the fun.

To: w0z who wrote (905)	11/28/2017 9:05:58 AM
From: PaulAquino	3 Recommendations Recommended By EzStinger Jim Mullens The Ox Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 954

calcalist.co.il Eyal Waldman goes into lebatt for his life: "We will win the war" The founder and CEO of Mellanox has not been deterred by the Starbord's threats to replace the company's board of directors and management, and proudly declares that "there will be a war and we will win." He believes that it is not far off today that the company will reach $ 1 billion a year Dror Reich06:5228.11.17 "Nissim will listen, there will be a war ... and we will be victorious," said Eyal Waldman, CEO and founder of Mellanox( Mellanox following the entry of Starbord: Is indeed a surprisingly limited ability Starbord's move list includes investment in Yahoo, Marvell chips, Israeli pharmaceuticals Perrigo, and in the Israeli chip companies Zoran and DSPG. In the case of Zoran, the company was sold and in the case of DSPG the management won the battle, but the share nevertheless rose following the move. The fund also operated in consumer companies, such as the Darden restaurant chain, where there was significant value overruns due to the realization of assets and the policy of repurchase of shares; And the office equipment networks Staples and Office Depot, whose merger led to many synergies. To act just as they did in Marvell's case Marvell's case is probably the closest to Mellanox's story now. The company also acted against shareholder interests, with over-investment in R & D, led by founder and CEO Sehat Sutardja, who was deposed, despite owning more than 10% of Marvell, compared to only 6.8% In the case of Mellanox, the situation is even more favorable for the fund, with 10.7% holding it, while Waldman holds 7.5%. The list of major shareholders in Mellanox includes several Israeli entities, including Clal, which holds 2.3%. Oracle has held 7.4% of the company for a decade, but it has no strategic considerations. Its investment took place when Mellanox was another chip company, and Oracle was a material customer, and now it has changed a lot, and it seems that Oracle will not object to the sale or management changes. Given that, Starboard does not seem to have a problem convincing investors of its plan. The move is expected to lead to a recovery in Mellanox's share, which is traded at a low price, without taking into account the potential to reduce inflated expenses due to negative sentiment among investors. Will the new product leave Waldman in mind? The results of Mellanox in the third quarter of 2017, as stated, were not brilliant. Divided by income, InfiniBand was responsible for $ 100 million (44% of revenue), a quarterly decline of 7%. However, it should be noted that the previous quarter was positively affected by an order from the US Department of Energy, about half of Mellanox's revenue from InfiniBand came from EDR technology, which provides data communications at a rate of 100 gigabits per second. The Ethernet sector accounted for 49% of revenues, amounting to $ 110 million, and grew 27% in the quarter. The company noted that 65% of its Ethernet business comes from advanced technologies at speeds of up to 100 gigabytes per second. The company produced In the third quarter totaled $ 53 million in current operations, with gross profit of 70.7% and non-GAAP operating profit of 17.1%. Cash flow led to a $ 346 million cash fund at the end of the quarter against a debt of $ 200 million - net cash of $ 150 million. Mellanox's main growth next year is expected to come from Ethernet, and Mellanox's traditional InfiniBand activity is expected to remain stable. Mellanox shares are trading at $ 58, after rising 16% since Starbord entered, but far from $ 114 at the peak of August 2012. "Two years after the merger with EZchip, 70% of employees are still with us - and Mellanox's first product with the technology of EZchip should be out in the coming months, "Waldman concluded the interview. Now he hopes it will be enough to keep the company in his hands.