Disk drive and storage maker Seagate Technology PLC said it was in talks with an unnamed party that is interested in taking the company private.
Its shares shot up US$2.65, or 21 percent, to US$15.34 in after-hours trading. The stock had finished regular trading down US$0.06 at US$12.69.
Seagate said on Thursday its board was evaluating the “indication of interest regarding a going-private transaction” and other strategic alternatives. It added that there was no guarantee that it would receive a formal offer or complete a deal.
The company, which was founded in 1979 and is incorporated in Ireland but operates out of Scotts Valley, said it had retained Morgan Stanley & Co and Perella Weinberg Partners LP to provide financial advice, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Arthur Cox as legal counsel.
If Seagate does go private, it won’t be the first time. The company was bought for US$1.7 billion in 2000 and taken private by a group of investors that included Texas Pacific Group, August Capital and Silver Lake Partners, a fund formed by current Seagate chief executive, Steve Luczo.
That happened just as the high-tech bubble burst, however. The deal was undone in late 2002 when Seagate raised US$870 million in an initial public offering — the biggest high-tech IPO that year.
In a July filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Seagate said it had 52,600 employees, nearly 86 percent of whom work in Asia.
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