Nutanix gains as corporate governance changes spark renewed takeover speculation (update)
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Update 1pm: Updates to add comment from holder Legion. 
Nutanix Inc. (NASDAQ:NTNX) rose 1.7% after corporate governance changes announced on Friday likely spurred some renewed takeover speculation.
The biggest announcements were the declassification of the company's board structure and the elimination of the super majority vote requirement, Needham analyst Michael Cikos wrote in a note. 
"At best, we see last weekâs announcement as further opening the door to suitors as an acquisition candidate," Cikos, who has a buy rating and $25 price target, wrote in a note on Monday. "We expect the press release to sustain investor speculation around Nutanix as a potential takeout target.
Nutanix investor Legion also championed the corporate governance changes in a statement that was part of Nutanix's press release on Friday.
âWe are pleased with the Boardâs actions and its embrace of these governance enhancement," d Ted White, co-founder and managing director of Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC, said in a statement. "We support the Board and management team in their efforts to create value for stockholders."
Cikos sees a potential financial buyer as Bain Capital, given Bain's investment in the company. Possible strategic buyers include Cisco (CSCO) and HP Enterprise (HPE) and cloud players such as Amazon's (AMZN) AWS and Google (GOOGL) Cloud. The analyst highlighted that Nutanix former CEO reportedly turned down bids from Cisco and HPE in 2016 before Nutanix (NTNX) had its IPO.
The latest speculation comes after Nutanix (NTNX) shares soared on May 23 after Dealreporter highlighted the company's decision to eliminate its dual-class structure and speculated Bain could potentially look to take the company private as its agreement with NTNX was set to expire. Recall in August 2020, private equity firm Bain agreed to invest $750 million in Nutanix (NTNX).
Nutanix (NTNX) also jumped 7% on Aug. 18 amid some bullish options trading for the cloud platform provider as well as positive note from Cleveland Research.