Riverbed Spurns Elliott's Sweetened Offer - Update

(RTTNews) - Riverbed Technology Inc (RVBD) Friday rejected activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp.'s sweetened $21.00 per share unsolicited offer for the network equipment maker.

In a statement, Riverbed said Elliott's latest $3.36 billion offer does not represent true value of the company and is against shareholders interest.

Riverbed said any credible offer will be given due scrutiny if it delivers shareholder value and considers the company's growth potential.

Meanwhile Elliott in a statement said Riverbed's rejection only entrenches shareholder value and criticized its refusal to provide access to diligence.

In January, Elliott offered to buy San Francisco, California-based Riverbed for $19 a share or about $3.08 billion, but Riverbed spurned the bid, and on Tuesday, Elliott raised its offer by two dollars to $21 per share.

Elliott, in November, disclosed that along with its associates, it accumulated a 10.4 percent stake in Riverbed, making it its largest shareholder.

Riverbed believes its prospects presents more value for the company than that offered by Elliott. The company is executing a strategy to accelerate growth as it captures greater share of Application Performance Infrastructure market.

Riverbed specializes in improving the performance of networks and related applications, and helps optimize data traffic and bandwidth utilization across networks. In January, the company reported a higher fourth-quarter profit, led by double-digit revenue growth and lower charges.

Riverbed stock is trading at $20.46, down $0.19 or 0.92%, on a volume of 366 thousand shares on the Nasdaq.