If you own shares of clustered storage specialist Isilon Systems
The stock jumped sky-high a couple of weeks ago on reports that the company was talking to EMC
After all these swings, Isilon is back roughly where it was before the recent round of buyout rumors started swirling. That makes sense. It's a good business but not great, and the company specializes in a particularly tricky type of storage management that has turned out to be difficult for even resource-laden giants like EMC to copy on their own. That alone is worth a bit of a buyout premium. But Isilon comes with small sales and is barely profitable. It's a fixer-upper that would be bought more for its technology and engineering talent than for its business acumen and existing accounts. And what company in its right mind would pay $2 billion or more for about 360 new employees, no matter how talented?
So a bidding war is pretty much out of the question. If Quattrone manages to sell Isilon at these prices, it would be a sign that the buyer is desperate for Isilon's particular brand of clustered storage.
It could happen. It would just be bad for your health to hold your breath in the meantime.
Follow this on-again, off-again buyout story by adding Isilon to your Foolish watchlist.