Riverbed Technology (RVBD.DL) is sternly shaking its head at the latest takeover attempt of the company. It announced today that its board of directors has unanimously decided to reject a buyout offer of $19 per share from Elliott Management that works out to a $3.08 billion offer. In the press release announcing the news, Riverbed said it believes the offer "undervalues the Company and is not in the best interests of shareholders."
As of this writing, Riverbed's shares trade at $19.94. Elliott announced last Wednesday that it had offered to buy the computer networking equipment maker. Shares had closed the day before at $17.85.
Strengthening the company's defense are its preliminary Q4 results, which were released this morning. Revenue is expected to come in at $284 million to $285 million, with diluted EPS of $0.30 to $0.31. Both ranges exceed the firm's previous guidance for the quarter of $270 million to $276 million for top line and diluted per-share earnings of $0.26 to $0.27.
Last November, Elliott Management disclosed a 9% stake in the company and described its stock as "significantly undervalued." Riverbed subsequently adopted a "poison pill" defense aimed at fending off unsolicited takeover bids.
According to The Associated Press, Elliott Management now has a 10.5% stake in the company.
