Seagate Stock Surges as Company Mulls Buyout Offer

Posted 10/15/2010 at 5:59am | by Paul Lilly

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Shares of Seagate stock skyrocketed 21 percent in after-hours trading after the hard drive maker disclosed it had been approached about going private.

"Seagate Technology announced today that it has received a preliminary indication of interest regarding a going private transaction," Seagate said a statement. "The company is in discussions with the party from whom it received the indication of interest, and its board of directors is evaluating the indication of interest and other strategic alternatives. The company has retained Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Perella Weinberg Partners LP to provide financial advice and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Arthur Cox as legal counsel. There is no assurance that the company will receive a formal offer or that any transaction will take place.

"Neither the company nor its representatives will be providing any additional comments regarding the preliminary indication of interest."

According to a report in The New York Times, private equity firms TPG and Kohlbert Kravis Roberts are the two parties making a joint bid for Seagate. Seagate's market value stands at $6 billion, and should it agree to a buyout, it would rank as the biggest private equity deal this year.