Activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp offered to purchase Riverbed Technology Inc for about $3.08 billion in cash, a move analysts said was likely to trigger higher offers for the network equipment maker.Riverbed shares rose as much as 14 percent to $20.29 on Wednesday, above Elliott's offer price of $19 per share.Elliott, run by Paul Singer, is known for publicly agitating for a sale or a board shakeup in companies in which it invests, pushing stock prices higher."With Riverbed shares currently trading above the $19 offer price, we believe it represents the first step in this 'game of high stakes poker', and that ultimately Elliott's activism will lead to higher shareholder value for investors," FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a note.
Riverbed Technology, Inc. (Riverbed) has developed solutions to the fundamental problems associated with information technology (IT) performance across wide area networks (WANs). Shares of RVBD traded higher by 9.83% or $1.755/share to $19.60. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $13.77 and as high as $20.74. On average, 3465430 shares of RVBD exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 13742665.
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