Citrix Systems Up for Sale? Conflicting Reports Raise Questions -

Did Citrix Systems hire Goldman Sachs to find a potential buyer for the virtualization software company? That's what The New York Post claims. However, a conflicting report from The Deal says Citrix is not considering a sale. Either way, these are unclear times for the software company.

If you believe The Post, activist investor Elliot Management has pushed Citrix to pursue potential suitors. Hardly surprising, some pundits predict private equity firms could be interested in acquiring Citrix, given the software company's size, strong installed base and mixed financial performance.

Thoma Bravo, for one, recently raised $12.6 billion for enterprise software acquisitions. And Vista Equity Partners has also surfaced in the rumor mill. But Citrix's valuation is roughly $13.2 billion as of today, according to Yahoo Finance.

Regardless, The Deal is pushing back firmly against The Post's report -- stating that the business isn't up for sale.

Citrix Systems: Layoff Rumors

The ownership speculation arrives a few days after rumored Citrix Systems layoffs across California, North Carolina and Florida. The company has not commented on those alleged cuts.

The apparent changes come ahead of the next Citrix earnings call on April 24, 2019, and the Citrix Synergy 2019 conference in May. That conference will cover six content areas: workspace, networking, analytics, virtual apps and desktops, content collaboration and endpoint management.

Citrix was growing and solidly profitable heading into 2019. For instance:

Revenue was $802 million in Q4 of fiscal 2018, up from $778 million in Q4 of fiscal 2017.

Net income was $166 million in Q4 of fiscal 2018, compared to a net loss of $284 million in Q4 of fiscal 2017.

We’ll be seeking updates from Citrix as the next earnings call and conference unfolds in April and May 2019, respectively.