4DS - Anything but Charting, page-6308

@hashtagyolo I've been thinking about what you've said Re: David Goeckeler and his mandate to pay down debt. A very quick look at WD, they do have a lot of debt but it's non-current and probably part of a revolving facility. Given the low rate environment and the fact it will stay that way for a while, I'd be surprised if that is his only goal.

The quickest way to pay down debt is make more money, and in the tech space the quickest way to go bankrupt or lose market share is not keep your eye on the ball with regards to technology change and miss the boat.

Making the assumption that the 4DS tech is proven and a game changer, there is no way a strategic acquisition by WD would be held up by his messaging of paying down debt. Realistically with almost $10bn USD debt, whats another $300m USD ($500m AUD) for a technology that is going to help you pay down that $10bn quicker than you could without acquiring them. You're also forgetting they have $3bn in cash/cash equivalents.

Given I sold out my holdings on the last SP pump and have only just bought back in again, I'd prefer the scrip take over for the CGT implications, but if you were JD would you want shares in another (established) company or cold hard cash.