Two activist hedge funds are pressing directors of Tangoe Inc. to sell the company, according to people familiar with the matter, citing a weakness in the IT company’s business and falling stock price.
Ancora Advisors and Engine Capital sent a letter to the company’s board of directors last week urging the company to resist the temptation to remain independent, and to do everything possible to seek a buyer, sources said. Ancora, Engine and a third investor are working as an investor group, and own more than 4 percent of the company, sources said, reports Reuters.
The identity of the third investor was not immediately clear. Tangoe, based in Orange, Connecticut, listed on the Nasdaq in 2011, trading at $10 per share. Its rivals at the time were U.S. billing firm CSG Systems and Amdocs, makers of phone-billing and customer-management software. Tangoe’s stock is currently trading at $5.04 per share and its market value is around $200 million.
