Rumor Mill: Vonage looking for a buyer

CNNMoney.com points out that Vonage filed an IPO nearly two months ago but has yet to file any amended registration statements with the SEC. Wall Street is speculating that Vonage might be looking to sell out instead. Jackson Securities analyst Greg Gorbatenko said, "I think they are looking for a buyer. Going public is something in their back pocket." He thinks the traditional telecoms have the most to lose if they don't offer customers a viable Internet phone service. AT&T currently has its hands full with buying BellSouth, but Verizon, Sprint or Qwest could be possible Vonage buyers. "Qwest would make a lot of sense. They are looking to do more deals and feel kind of left out."

Precursor President Scott Cleland believes that Vonage would need to raise capital to feed the beast. Then the company can stick around for a long time. "But the question is would that be wise?" IPOfinancial.com President David Menlow even goes ahead to say that "subsidiaries of much better capitalized firms can come out there and squash them like a peanut." Analysts also speculate that investors may be scared off because of Vonage founder Jeffrey Citron's involvement in "an extensive fraudulent scheme involving improper use of the Nasdaq Stock Market's Small Order Execution System."

For more on Vonage's IPO vs Takeover probability:
- check out this CNNMoney.com article

PLUS: Vonage has announced that 1 million (70 percent) of its subscriber lines now have E911. This follows last week's incident where a Chanhassen, MA, man charged that the VoIP provider put him on hold when he called 911 to report his house was on fire. Release

ALSO: iotum CEO Alec Saunders blogs that Vonage is the worst IPO of the year. Blog