In major league baseball, no manager wants to get the dreaded "vote of confidence" from the team owner, since that often seems to be a prelude for a pink slip. Likewise, when companies disclose retention agreements with executives, the next step is often a sale.

That appears to be the case with supply chain software maker i2 Technologies Inc. [ITWO]. Originally expected to complete a review of strategic alternatives by the end of January, i2 on Feb. 7 extended the review indefinitely, saying the process had "generated credible interest in a variety of strategic options." i2 on Friday disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has struck retention agreements with its top eight executives. That includes payments the executives would receive in the event of their termination for things other than cause, including a change of control.

In a Monday research note, JMP Securities analyst Patric Walravens notes that four other companies he tracked  -- Vastera Inc., Siebel Systems Inc., Manugistics Group Inc. and Visual Sciences Inc. -- were sold after putting similar agreements in place. Though the average time until those sales was five months after the companies adopted the agreements, i2 may be on a faster track since its strategic review began last November.

Shares of i2 were trading at $13.73 on Monday, giving the company a market capitalization of slightly less than $300 million. Walravens maintains a $22 price target on i2 based on a "sum-of-the-parts" valuation. - David Shabelman

See Feb. 29 regulatory filing from i2
See Oct. 5 story from Tech Confidential