Russell Shaw notes that Vonage chairman Jeffrey Citron appears to be open to a buyout to enhance shareholder value. Memo to Mr. Citron: Sell now!
Citron's wishful thinking is laughable. It's doubtful anyone would want Vonage. Just the fact Vonage has a passing interest in shareholder value gave me a chuckle.
To wit:
--Vonage IPO price: $17. Vonage price today: $6 and change. Vonage investor pain: Immense.
--Net loss for the nine months ending Sept. 30: $221 million.
--Average monthly churn for the three months ending Sept. 30: 2.6 percent, up from 2.3 percent for the same period a year earlier.
--Vonage gave customers the ability to get in on the company's IPO at $17. Some customers went for the deal and then reneged on paying for shares. As of mid-September, Vonage was sending letters to those deadbeat customers/investors in a precursor to litigation.
--Vonage is a regular on TheStreet.com's "Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week" list. The good news: Vonage hasn't appeared on the list since August.
I could go on, but you can read the gory details here and here.
Full disclosure: I'm a Vonage customer. Even happier since I didn't play around with the IPO.