Cisco not blinded by Sun bid

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 16 Apr 2009 at 11:40

Cisco has ruled itself of the running for Sun, despite admitting it is looking to make a number of acquisitions during the downturn.

"Cisco moves very rapidly on acquisitions," Cisco chief executive John Chambers told reporters in Seoul, when asked about Sun. "If we were going to be in an area, we would probably have already moved."

Analysts have pointed out that such an outright denial could be a ploy to drive Sun's share price down before bidding. However, Cisco has noted in the past that it will be looking to make more consumer-focused acquisitions over the next few years.

According to Chambers, Cisco has a $34 billion warchest and will be looking to acquire small, market-leading companies. This was borne out by its acquisition of Pure Digital, makers of the Flip Video Mino, for $590 million last month.

Click here to read PC Pro's review of the Flip Video Mino.

Chambers says his company plans to be "aggressive during this market downturn," though he refused to name targets.