Riverbed not interested in being bought
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Riverbed Technology Inc (RVBD.O) is not interested in being acquired, its chief executive said, dousing speculation that the network equipment maker may be the next in a series of deals in the sector.
CEO Jerry Kennelly said sales partnerships with large technology vendors like International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) will help Riverbed fight off competitive threats from Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), which has grown by acquiring smaller technology firms.
"We're on everyone's target list," Kennelly told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "But we believe that we're so attractive that we have a brilliant future as a stand-alone company. We're in no hurry to be absorbed."
Riverbed specializes in WAN optimization, which helps companies run applications faster over their networks and avoid bandwidth congestion.
Analysts expect growing demand for the technology as more business processes move online. Hopes for a buyout, in addition to solid business results, have helped Riverbed's shares more than double over the past 12 months.
Possible acquirers for Riverbed include IBM, Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR.N) and Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N), although HP is now busy with its announced deal for 3Com Corp (COMS.O), analysts say.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, editing by Tiffany Wu and Gerald E. McCormick)
