After Caesars Deal, These 4 Struggling Companies Look Ripe for Acquisition
After Caesars Deal, These 4 Struggling Companies Look Ripe for Acquisition
Trey ThoelckeMon, June 1, 2026 at 12:50 PM UTC
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After the pending deal to take Caesars (CZR) private, the floodgates are open for leveraged buyouts.
Here are four struggling companies that fit the take-private profile, ranked from least to most likely to be acquired next.
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The Caesars deal just put a clock on the rest of corporate America. On May 28, 2026, Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by Fertitta Entertainment in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $17.6 billion, including the assumption of approximately $11.9 billion of Caesars' outstanding debt. Shareholders take home $31.00 per share in cash, a 49% premium to the unaffected share price as of February 25, 2026, with no financing condition and a go-shop period running through July 11, 2026.
That premium signals opportunity. With credit markets open and sponsors holding dry powder, beaten-down public companies with clean cash flows, recognizable brands, or busted balance sheets are in scope. We screened four cross-sector names that match the take-private profile and ranked them from least likely to most likely to be acquired next.
4. Etsy
Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) carries the largest market cap on this list at $6.4 billion, which is the primary reason it ranks last. Marketplace network effects are notoriously hard to leverage in a leveraged buyout (LBO), and Etsy's stock has already rallied 28.2% over the past year and 22.5% year to date to $67.92, narrowing the gap to the $72.28 analyst target.
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Q1 2026 revenue of $631 million beat the $617.31 million estimate, with net income swinging to a profit year over year and marketplace GMS growing 5.5%. Insider activity argues against an imminent deal: 100% of the past 30 days of insider transactions were sales, including a 20,000-share director disposal on May 22 at $60.92 to $62.64. Sponsors do not typically pursue companies where insiders are heading for the exits.
3. Under Armour
Under Armour (NYSE: UAA) trades at $5.87, down 74% over five years. Founder Kevin Plank is back as CEO with a brand reset and a $305 million restructuring plan. Plank told investors, "Our fiscal 2026 performance reflects the ongoing intentional steps we're taking to reset the business and restore the discipline required to operate as a best-in-class brand."
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The share register is the real signal. Prem Watsa's group accumulated 1,178,344 Class A shares over three days in mid-May at roughly $5.00, the largest accumulation in the dataset. Forward EPS guidance of $0.08 to $0.12 is thin, but the asset (brand, North American footprint, international momentum at +10%) is cheap at 0.819x EV/revenue. Plank's Class C share structure complicates a hostile bid, which is precisely what makes a friendly, founder-led take-private feasible.
2. Xerox
Xerox (NASDAQ: XRX) is the most beaten-down name on this list, with a market cap of just $423.7 million and a stock down 86.2% over five years. Q1 2026 revenue of $1.85 billion exceeded expectations of roughly $1.75 billion, helped by the Lexmark acquisition and a $300 million synergy target.
New CEO Louie Pastor framed his priorities as stabilizing revenue, lifting profitability, and reducing leverage. The leverage piece is the catch: total liabilities of $9.37 billion against only $305 million of equity. A sponsor would need debt restructuring as part of any deal. Yet at 0.605x EV/revenue and a 3x forward P/E, with FY26 guided free cash flow of roughly $250 million, the asymmetry is compelling. The stock has already doubled in the past month, hinting that someone is positioning early.
1. Dropbox
Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX) is the cleanest LBO setup of the four. The math is hard to ignore: $1.0 billion of free cash flow in FY 2025 against $2.521 billion of revenue, with a 32.3% free cash flow margin in Q1 2026 and minimal capex. EV/EBITDA is just 11x against a forward P/E of 9x.
Founder and CEO Drew Houston has already run the buyback equivalent of a leveraged recap, having repurchased $1.7 billion of stock in FY25 and another $366.8 million in Q1 2026, shrinking the share count from 295.7 million to 236.7 million. Shareholders' equity is negative $2.011 billion, meaning the balance sheet has been engineered for private ownership. Houston told investors, "We delivered a strong quarter, exceeding the high end of our guidance for revenue and operating margin." Applying the 49% Caesars premium to the current $26.88 share price implies a deal price near $40, well within reach for a sponsor underwriting that cash flow stream.
The Cleanest Setup
Dropbox carries the take-private fingerprint: predictable cash flow, asset-light operations, a founder controlling the cap table, and a balance sheet restructured around debt rather than equity. Watch for a 13D filing from a private equity sponsor, a pause in the buyback program, or telling commentary from Houston on the next earnings call. Because Caesars has a go-shop period running until July 11, 2026, the window is open for taking additional public companies private. With its massive cash flow, Dropbox is almost certainly being evaluated as a takeover target by every major private equity firm on Wall Street.
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Source: “AOL Money”
