Which Company Is Poised for Takeover?

(Takeover article updated with new buyout offer for CKE Restaurants.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Takeover speculation is heating up the market, as both private equity firms and cash-heavy companies appear ready to make some investments.

The availability of financing is, no doubt, improving, and the market is ripe for companies that are ready to return to a growth strategy to snag something at a cheap price.

As history shows, it is this type of market in which acquisitions make the most sense, says Joe Johnson, chair of Goodwin Procter's M&A/Corporate Governance Practice. Thus, it's no surprise that companies across sectors are being thrown into the spotlight as potential buyouts.

Palm(PALM), for one, has been the center of takeover chatter since reports surfaced earlier this month that it hired some high-profile tech bankers, including Frank Quattrone and Goldman Sachs, to scope out potential suitors.

If Elevation Partners, Palm's biggest venture capital backer, has its way, the price tag for the deal could be at least $1 billion.

It has been reported that Dell(DELL) has already walked away from a potential deal with Palm. RBC Capital Markets, for its part, is positing that Hewlett Packard(HPQ) would make a good fit. Asian players like Lenovo, HTC, ZTE and Huawei Technologies, are also possible purchasers.

Still, Palm's stock was sinking on Monday on concerns that it may not be able to find a buyer. These worries were triggered on Friday, when a Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealed Michael Abbot, senior vice president of software and services, will leave the company on April 23.

RadioShack(RSH) may also be phasing out the sale of Palm devices in its stores, according to a C.L. King analyst.