Elliott Management Pushes for Change at Citrix

Citrix Systems on Thursday received a letter from shareholder Elliott Management Corp., which has requested a meeting with the board to discuss its plans that it says could help the company's share price increase by about 50%.

Shares in Citrix rose 6% to $69.62 in early trading.

According to Elliott, the firm owns 7.1% of Citrix shares outstanding, making it one of the business-software's largest holders. In the letter it made public, Elliott said it believes Citrix can achieve a stock price of $90 to $100 by the end of next year.

"Citrix has leading technology franchises in attractive markets but has struggled operationally for years. As a result, today Citrix's operations and product portfolio represent an opportunity for improvement of uniquely significant magnitude," Elliott wrote.

A Citrix representative wasn't immediately available to comment.

In January, Citrix announced a restructuring program by which it cut more than 700 jobs. At the time, the company said it expected to save $90 million to $100 million.

But Elliott said in the letter that Citrix can be more efficient, saying its product portfolio is "too broad for its scale and contains far too many underperforming product lines." Elliott also said Citrix has "high-value strategic assets that we believe can be separated" from Citrix's core workspace services segment.

For its most recent quarter, Citrix reported a 48% drop in profit as it recorded restructuring-related charges. The company also cut its outlook for the year and warned that current-quarter results would disappoint.

Elliott, founded by investor Paul Singer, has pushed for change at other companies such as data-storage firm EMC and network equipment companies Juniper Networks and Riverbed Technology, in addition to ad agency Interpublic Group of Cos.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at [e-mail]

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