RE:Makes an appearance on Atrium takeout listMakes perfect sense but would have to be at a very large premium to convince the four controlling insiders to part with their shares.
What I'm a bit concerned about right now is the possibility of an insider buyout at a not so large premium.
What might give them pause for thought would be the requirement under MI 61-101 of a valuation. Major expense plus the possibility of some non-insider shareholder taking potshots in court at the particulars of the valuation.
I think there would be some logic in Stantec buying them. Similar business. Same HQ city. Possibly Stantec would be turned off by the feeling of a culture mismatch. But Stantec currently trades at a massively higher valuation. There is no way internal growth could compete with buying Vertex with Stantec shares--even if they paid, say, $1 per VTX share.