PTC Leaves ‘For Sale’ Rumor Unanswered
12 Sep, 2008 By: Kenneth WongStock climbs following a speculative report in Financial Times.
Last week, following a report in Financial Times, rumors began circulating about a possible sale of PTC, the makers of Pro/ENGINEER ("Parametric Set to Woo Bidders with $2 Billion Tag," September 6, 2008). Citing an unnamed source, the article claimed PTC has hired investment banking firm Goldman Sachs to help generate interest in the bidding process.
When contacted, the PTC press office replied that, as a rule, it doesn't comment on merger and acquisitions strategies. On September 9, during its presentation at Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference, PTC was given the chance to address the Financial Times report.
"With respect to the article, things get printed on rumors all the time," said Kristian Talvitie, PTC's vice-president of investor relations. "I can't comment on that. But as a public company, our shares are always for sale on the Exchange."
Previously, Boston Business Journal has reported that PTC agreed to a change-in-control policy, which guarantees a $1.9 million payout to the company's top executives if the company is acquired.
UGS, a PTC rival, was acquired in 2007 by Siemens AG, a Germany-based manufacturing titan. UGS has since been renamed Siemens PLM Software. If PTC is up for sale, potential buyers could include competitors of Siemens AG. The company could also be an acquisition target for enterprise software giants looking to enter the product lifecycle management (PLM) industry, where PTC maintains a leadership position.
Though unconfirmed, the rumor has driven up the price of PTC shares. On September 9, PTC is listed as one of the companies showing unusually high volume in the "Trading Floor" blog published by Schaeffers Research, with a 344% volume increase. On the afternoon of Friday, September 12, PTC shares were trading at $20.51, up roughly 4%.
