Sun going private?

A new dawn for Sun Microsystem or the end of Sun as we know it?

CEO Scott McNealy is considering taking Sun private with the help of
Silver Lake Partners, says a hedge-fund manager close to McNealy and
the private equity fund. Silver Lake has done LBOs for Seagate
Technology (STX ) and SunGard Data Systems (SDS ).

This manager sees an LBO offer of $5 to $5.50 a share. Sun’s cash
stash of $7.5 billion, or $2.50 a share, makes an LBO doable, he
says. The idea is to shrink Sun by selling assets, bolster its core
hardware, software, and service businesses, and go public again.
Spokespersons for both Sun and Silver Lake declined comment.

Source: Business Week

The market went down in response. Sun stock was at $4 pre-market and closed
yesterday at $3.40.