Days after CEO Jon Rubinstein vehemently defended the company's stability, Palm has officially placed themselves on the market. According to Bloomberg, Palm has hired Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners to find prospective buyers. As it stands, HTC, Lenovo, and Dell have expressed interest in the company, though Dell decided not to make an offer. Rumors circulate around potential offers from Huawei Technologies and ZTE as well, though both declined comment on the matter. Compared to a 60 percent slide since the beginning of the year, Palm shares rose 71 cents, or 14 percent, to $5.87 in trading this morning. The surge follows a 32 percent rise last week based on speculation of a buyout.
With 11 straight quarterly losses under their belt, it's understandable that Palm needs to find a buyer as quickly as possible. Founded in 1992, the company has an incredible history and a strong brand that should be appealing to any potential buyer. Not only were they a "founding father" in the PDA market, but they offer a well-received operating system (webOS) as well. Combine Palm with a company that makes fantastic hardware but seeks an edge in the software side (like everyone else, HTC immediately comes to mind), and you have a well-rounded organization.
Time will tell, but I'm sure we'll hear more as the week goes on. Who would you like to see purchase the Sunnyvale-based company? Shout out in the comments section!