Palm, whose stock jumped more than 20 percent Monday, working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. investment banker Frank Quattrone and the's Qatalyst Partners.According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process has not been published.
Alternatives include the monitoring of additional investments or trying to reach a licensing agreement for its WebOS mobile phone operating system software, the source said.
Report that Palm had hired Goldman and Qatalyst first was reported in Bloomberg, and after a few days last week, when the company's population of wild violent takeover speculation.For the week the shares rose by 32 percent.
Suitors would probably pay more than $ 1 billion for Palm, due to its market value than 870 million U.S. dollars to close Friday's, and the average trading volume by 30 percent premium for a technology company, said bankers. Buyers with additional costs of integration
However, the price tag is likely to be much lower than what could bring Palm last year after the introduction of the preliminary telephone. In the past six months decreased minus business company's stock, which fell by 69 percent and the market capitalization of about $ 2.4 billion.
Currently, control Elevation Partners, a private equity firm that U2 singer Bono among its partners are about 30 percent of Palm
A spokesman for the Palm in Europe, Goldman Sachs and the amount of each declined comment. A spokesman for the Palm in the U.S. and not immediately return requests Qatalyst comment
For years, the company was to enter as a target for larger companies in the hope or expand in the mobile market. Analysts say the most valuable asset is the operating system WebOS, which brought rave reviews, but lackluster sales.
Palm smartphones shipped a total of 960,000 in the quarter in February, but only 408,000 of them were sold to the consumer
Speculation about the sale of palm has increased, as sales of powered pre-and Palm Pixi phones flag under fears that it could not compete with Research In Motion's BlackBerry'Apple' s iPhone and mobile phones with software from Microsoft and Google
to take Palm limited scope, distribution and the weak global brand outside the United States point S, as the next chapter in the history of Palm,"said CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blab.
The company has developed a very valuable asset in the WebOS. The challenge for Palm is a buyer willing to a premium for immature platform, where many potential candidates have already invested heavily in Android,can be paid has Blab.
CL King analyst Lawrence Harris & Associates found that Verizon's recent disappointing debut Palm's mobile phone, which was then just selling Sprint, and the iPhone and Microsoft's mobile phone can improve, spurred to act Palm.
Because where we're at it with a"a good day, like, not only because I't see immediate sales, he said.
HTC Corp, the world's No. 5 smartphone manufacturer had "a lively debate about the intention," get Palm, Taiwan' s Economic Daily News on Friday. Earlier this week, rumors about a possible takeover bid by Lenovo Group and Microsoft Corp and mobile phone manufacturers Nokia and Motorola Inc. were put into circulation in the past, all named as potential candidates.