Blue Coat Systems Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Blue Coat Systems (NAS: BCSI) rose more than 11% in early trading on news that it had entered a standstill agreement with investment firm Elliott Associates.

So what: The terms of the agreement prohibit Elliott from taking action in Blue Coat's stock until Oct. 25. In exchange, the firm will be granted access to the board of directors for the purposes of discussing possible merger or acquisition ideas. Or at least that's how the otherwise impenetrable legalese of this SEC filing reads to this Fool.

Now what: Could Blue Coat be entertaining buyout offers? Eric Savitz at Forbes suggests precisely that outcome here, and I think he's right. Cisco (NAS: CSCO) is known to want a bigger slice of the wide area network optimization market that Riverbed Technology (NAS: RVBD) controls. Acquiring Blue Coat could aid in the effort. Do you agree? Disagree? Please weigh in using the comments box below.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorTim Beyersis a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article at the time of publication. Check out Tim'sportfolio holdingsandFoolish writings, or connect with him onGoogle+or Twitter, where he goes by@milehighfool. You can also get his insightsdelivered directly to your RSS reader.The Fool owns shares of and has created a bull call spread position on Cisco Systems.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Riverbed Technology and Cisco Systems, as well as writing puts in Riverbed Technology. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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