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What happened
Shares of Imperva Inc. (NYSE: IMPV) were down 14.5% as of 12:00 p.m. EDT Wednesday after reports that the cybersecurity software specialist's efforts to sell itself have stalled.
So what
Recall just last month, shares of Imperva soared after a Bloomberg report revealed that, with the help of its previously reported cooperation with Qatalyst Partners, Imperva was fielding buyout interest from several notable tech giants including Cisco, IBM, and private equity firm Forcepoint.
To be fair, I also wrote at the time it was "unclear exactly what price Imperva could command for its business," noting Bloomberg's sources stated bids were due within two weeks of the news.
Today, however, Bloomberg reported the sale has been put on hold as Imperva seeks a higher acquisition premium for the company, indicating that perhaps initial bids for the company weren't attractive enough to merit entertaining.
Now what
That doesn't mean a deal is off the table. But here again, I feel the need to reiterate that acquisitions like these are never guaranteed.
In the meantime, with shares now trading down more than 35% year to date -- and well below the price at which they stood before last month's pop -- I think investors would be wise to focus first on the progress of Imperva's actual business when considering the stock as a portfolio candidate.
