Alcatel-Lucent stepped up to the plate today and made an offer to acquire all the shares of Motive for $2.23 per share. Only a fool wouldn’t take that. That share price makes the purchase price about $68M. The company has about $32M in current assets, which means that the company’s value as an entity that produces $18M per quarter in sales (with no margin) is worth $36M.

The company’s troubles started when they built a huge corporate headquarters building with a custom (and expensive) bison statue at the front of the building. Any time a company builds a monument to itself while it hasn’t even hit breakeven yet — short it. As key employees left and told tales of overzealous revenue recognition, the locals in Austin all whispered “short Motive.” Not long after that the company stopped reporting financial results to shareholders. Then the lawsuits hit, and the financials had to be re-stated going back several years.

Luckily there appears to be no law against overstating revenues by $20M - $30M per year, otherwise Scott Harmon and Paul Baker would be in jail. This deal was less like a purchase and more like a mercy killing.