Akamai Technologies Inc. , the operator of a server network that lets businesses deliver data quickly, advanced after Bloomberg News’s Real M&A reported the Cambridge company may now be cheap enough to lure International Business Machines Corp. or Verizon Communications Inc. as a buyer. Akamai is approaching its lowest valuation on record. Akamai was worth as much as $9.9 billion last year, Bloomberg said, but the shares have plunged 57 percent in the past 12 months. That’s the third-biggest drop in the Nasdaq 100, giving Akamai a market value of $3.8 billion. The stock gained 8.7 percent yesterday to close at the highest price since Sept. 16.