Openwave Gets $335 Million Bid From PE Firm Harbinger Capital; More Bids Likely

Wireless tech and software provider Openwave Systems soggy saga continues: Private equity firm Harbinger Capital Partners is offering $335m for 49 percent of its shares to take its holding to 62 percent and then merging it with fixed mobile convergence specialist Bridgeport Networks, reports CBR. The $8.30 a share cash offer is below Monday’s closing price of $8.65, though Harbinger promised a special dividend from cash balances and the sale of non-core businesses and a continuing stake in the business, the story says. The company says it intended to position Openwave as a leader in the converged messaging market, whatever that means.
DealBlogs: In a research note on Wednesday, Wedbush Morgan Securities analysts Scott Sutherland and Kerry Rice said Openwave is already in talks with other possible buyers. “We believe Openwave has engaged and met with several potential strategic and private equity acquirers,” they said. Possible strategic buyers run the gamut from Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. to Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola Inc. and Nokia Corp, the post says.
Mergermarket: Sybase, the California enterprise software company, has submitted an offer which is contingent upon the completion of a due diligence process…Oracle also performing due diligence but has yet to summit an offer..IBM, Hewlett Packard and Siemens continue to participate in the process, the story says.

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