Monday, March 5, 2007

So There Was Something To The PALM Takeover Rumors

We noted the comments of a CITI analyst on Friday who poo pooed the speculation of a PALM deal saying the CEO recently filed to sell shares. Well of course another analyst WRONG.

The Wall Street Journal this morning is reporting that PALM has hired Morgan Stanley to explore strategic options. The Journal cites people familiar with the situation as saying PALM is looking at the usual options ranging from a sale to private equity investment, etc.

Apple with its coming iPhone is a big reason that PALM is now considering a sale of itself, according to the report. Palm already faces stiff competition from Research in Motion's Blackberry (RIMM) devices as well as products that are similar to PALM's Treo from both Motorola (MOT) and Nokia (NOK). Apple's iPhone is seen as the tipping point for PALM to do a deal, according to the Journal's sources.

PALM has a market capitalization of less than $2 bln and rose nearly 11% on Friday.

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