Ciscos Chambers Signals Bid For Sun Micro Would Be Unlikely


Cisco Systems

“Cisco moves very rapidly on acquisitions,” Chambers said today at a briefing in Seoul, when asked about Sun. “If we were going to be in an area, we would probably have already moved.”

Hewlett-Packard Co. has no plans to begin merger talks with Sun after the companys discussions with International Business Machines Corp. collapsed, a person familiar with the matter said last week. While Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and Dell Inc. have been suggested as possible acquirers, Sun may have difficultly finding a suitor, according to Bill Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis.

Still, Cisco plans to be “aggressive during this market downturn,” Chambers said. He declined to specify any acquisition targets and said the company hasnt changed its strategy of acquiring small, private companies with market leadership.

Chambers said in February that he plans to use Ciscos $29.5 billion in cash to make purchases and has said hes particularly interested in video products for consumers. Last week, Cisco agreed to buy Tidal Software Inc. for $105 million in cash and in March bought Pure Digital Technologies Inc., the maker of the Flip Video camcorder, for $590 million.

The San Jose, California-based company has acquired about 130 businesses in its 25-year history to enter new markets such as cable set-top boxes and wireless routers for the home. Cisco bought 11 companies in 2007 and five in 2008.

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