Sometimes a deal from hell can become one hell of a deal. Following are three takeover stories that could be worth a trade.
Microsoft / Yahoo!
Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang said Wednesday a potential deal with Microsoft has tremendous power, but the software giant appears no longer interested in a full merger.
In his most public comments to date about his thinking on the four-month-old, on-again, off-again Microsoft merger saga, Yang signaled his company remained open to a potential deal, but said Microsoft had ruled out a merger for now.
Earlier this month, Microsoftwalked away from a proposal to acquire Yahoofor $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, after Yahoo rebuffed its offer, saying it would only settle for $37 a share.
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How do you trade it?
I think Yahoo emerges from this mess either married or dead, says Jeff Macke. Microsoft is my play.
I agree, says Guy Adami. Look at Microsoft .
Boston Scientific / Guidant
In January of 2006 MSNBC reported Guidant Corp. jilted longtime suitor Johnson & Johnson in favor of a $27.2 billion offer from rival Boston Scientific ending one of the most highly charged bidding wars in years.
The move capped nearly two months of negotiations and sweetened deals from J&J and Boston Scientific, which saw the Indianapolis-based company as an opening to the $10.3 billion cardiac device market.
But Guidant also is grappling with months of product recalls and is less than a month away from the first of what could be several product liability trials. Securities analysts say it ultimately could be liable for as much as $2 billion in damages.
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How do you trade it?
Look at Boston Scientific, says Karen Finerman. They’ve now made meaningful in-roads from the merger and could really benefit going foreward.
Hewlett-Packard / Compaq
Six years after Hewlett-Packard and Compaq merged, HP is flourishing as the world's leading personal computer maker. But success took time and has meant less prominence for the Compaq brand name.
