“Shares of biometric sensor technology maker Authentec (AUTH) are up $3.45, over 68%, at $8.52, after the company this morning said Apple (AAPL) agreed to acquire it for $8 per share,” Tiernan Ray reports for Barron’s. “Why is the stock price higher than the offer price? The company said it is restricted from soliciting offers, but not from entertaining unsolicited competing offers.”
Ray reports, “In a note this afternoon, Beating Wall Street Financial Inc.’s Hamed Khorsand, who rates Authentec shares a Buy, with a $5 price target, thinks the company may well get other bids. ‘Our assumption is based on the competitive nature of the mobile market between AAPL, Samsung Electronics, and Google. AAPL is validating the technology AUTH has developed, and with an acquisition of AUTH, AAPL could cause competitors to be shut-off from using such features. Therefore, there could be other parties interested in taking a serious look at purchasing AUTH. If not for the technology AUTH owns, then for forcing AAPL to pay up.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wonder if Apple will let themselves get “AdMobbed” again? And, who’s the “Quattro” of the biometric sensor market?
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$117 billion in the bank comes in handy sometimes.
Apple are fools to let this linger and not just take the fucker off the table. Cook is acting like a fearful amateur of late.
Yesterday, you didn’t know what this company was or what they bring to the table. Today, you call Apple fools for not snapping the4m up.
Buying a company is not like getting milk at the convenient store. It’s already in the hands of the regulators. Apple would not have announced the deal if there were no deal in place.
And how would he be able to do that?
Apple has made their offer and obtained unanimous approval by the AuthenTec board of directors. What exactly have they let “linger”? Stockholder approval is not up to them.
Hope Apple accumulated shares prior to the takeover offer. They could get a windfall well above the break up fee.
tbone — So vehement. So certain. So vitriolic. And your experience of buying companies or spending hundreds of millions of dollars is……… ?
Makes you wonder where they get their lawyers between the amateur hour in court vs Fandroid Cabal and letting Google scoop them with over $100 billion banked.
Ponder the corporate offices of all sides @ this point. UN FUCKIN’ BELIEVABLE!
Perhaps Tim is not so off the table, may be he is just pretending be interested in some technology, since Apple is the leader in innovation, every body will invest on that technology and them apple will came out with something very different rendering the competition acquisition useless.
Samsung and Google obviously knew about those negotiations for some quite time. So if they did not offer highest price yet, then they are unlikely to do so now — if only for PR purposes.
Obviously? I think not.
It’s not like Apple would allow them to talk about the deal before it happens.
re: Troy
Ha. That would be funny if it’s Apple trying to get the slavish copiers to pay through the roof for a company that is a red herring.
NO SOUP FOR YOU!
what mugwump said – he/she is right
that is EXACTLY what is happening
Apple does not need to buy any company for that type of tech
The self appointed know-it-alls speak! Do you actually USE AuthenTec’s products? I DO, and they work great with Macs, and integrate nicely.
what are Auth products? This is the first I’ve heard of them
I don’t get it.
Why would they get other offers just because Apple is aqcuring them. Why would they all at the same time wanna acquire this company? I mean. If google wants to buy them it stands to reason they have kept their eyes on the company for some time. Why haven’t google made a bid for them a long time ago, if they now are so interested? It’s not like this company was created yesterday…
Apple should acquire them as fast as possible and rev up its acquisition angine for these small but excellent tech companies with key technologies.
The company is majority owned by investors. Company insiders own 16.7% and big investment funds own 26%. So, Apple has to get a little more than a third of the other shares whether from the fund managers or small investors.
Nokia also uses AuthenTec so this could add Microsoft to the mix.
Microsoft and Apple are not opposing team on patents. They have cross license agreements in place and do not sue each other. Apples enemies are the same as Microsoft. Google, Samsung, and Motorolla.