11/3/09

Bridgewater Systems (BWC.TO): More Takeover speculation

Since some Boardroom maneuvering  earlier this year, there has been some speculation of a takeover of BWC. Here is some more detailed speculation reported on by Andrew Willis - all in quotes.


From Andrew Willis 

"While Bridgewater Systems would prefer to be loved for its fundamentals, the tech company is becoming accustomed to drawing investors with corporate intrigue.
Bridgewater (BWC-T9.940.212.16%) is in the wireless software business, and sports at $240-million market capitalization. Backers include tech billionaire Terry Matthews. Earlier this year, the company was targeted by money manager Crescendo Partners, with a proxy fight ending peacefully and Crescendo executives joining the Bridgewater board.
As this boardroom activity played out, Bridgewater posted increasingly strong results. The company is winning new telecom clients and rolling out a new business model that draws more recurring revenue from existing customers, a list that includes most of the major global phone companies. The stock is up 241 per cent over the past 12 months.
Now National Bank Financial is speculating that Ottawa-based Bridgewater could be on the receiving end of a bid from Nokia Siemens Networks.
While the concept isn’t new - Bridgewater has long been seen as a potential target - National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson is taking an aggressive view on what’s coming, as he predicts a bidding war is in the offing.
“We've been suggesting that Bridgewater would be an acquisition target of NSN for many months for both its technology and key customer Verizon Wireless,” said Mr. Thompson in a report on Tuesday. He then added: “Also recall that we've suggested that Cisco would likely defend its evolved packet core position by acquiring Bridgewater if Nokia Siemens Networks were to bid for the company.”
National Bank Financial has a $13 target price on Bridgewater, and an “outperform” ranking, with "above average” risk rating."

Disclosure: I own shares of BWC.

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