Openet, a privately held provider of transaction-management solutions for service providers, issued a statement Thursday that it was not in discussions to be acquired by Cisco Systems.
According to Openet, speculation that the company was a takeover target for Cisco was first published by Avian Securities analyst Catharine Trebnick in a May 26 research note.
"What we can confirm is that Cisco is one of a number of strategic partners for our business. However, Openet is not currently involved in acquisition discussions; rather, our top priority is to focus on the growth of our business and our leadership in this market," Openet CEO Niall Norton said in a statement. "Cisco has been a valuable partner, and we look forward to growing that relationship with the expansion of our business."
Norton also noted that Openet's policy is to usually not comment on market speculation regarding future company plans, including potential mergers and acquisitions, but the company decided to make an exception in this case "given the volume of discussion this week."
Openet, based in Dublin, Ireland, provides products and services to telecommunications and cable providers worldwide, including BT, Orange, AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
