> My guess is that Elemental was specifically targeted because the cost of doing so would be pretty small and with nearly a 100% chance of success. Back in 2015, Elemental was nearly guaranteed to be acquired by one of the greats (Apple, Google, Amazon, etc.) because they had grown too large to be acquired by smaller companies but were also unlikely to go public on their own. The company was doing very well, plus they had government clients.

I don't think the acquisition potential had anything to do with it being a good target. It was all about the government clients.

I could see the acquisition potential as actually being a downside. Apple, Google, Amazon, etc. have histories of acquiring companies just to withdraw their products from the market.