UPDATE 3-Cognos does not rule out a sale of company

(Adds HP declining to comment)

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Software maker Cognos Inc CSN.TO has not ruled out a sale of the company, an executive told Reuters on Tuesday, after Germany's SAP (SAPG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it planned to buy another rival.

SAP said on Sunday it would buy Business Objects BOBJ.PA for 4.8 billion euros ($6.8 billion), sparking speculation in the market that Cognos could become an acquisition target.

Cognos's shares climbed 10.4 percent to C$48.22 in Toronto on Tuesday, after Canadian markets were closed for a national holiday on Monday.

Cognos, based in Ottawa, said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday that its goal was to remain an "independent" vendor of business intelligence software, which are programs that analyze businesses by combing through vast amounts of data.

Asked in an interview if this meant the company was not for sale, Cognos Vice President Mychelle Mollot said no. She said "independent" meant Cognos' computer programs would be designed to work with products from all software vendors and not designed to work better with programs of any one company.

Mollot said the company's statement did not mean that Cognos was opposed to being acquired by another company. "Acquisitions do not always preclude our remaining independent," she said.

"The implication is that people always assume that 'independence' of a (software vendor) has to be taken off the table in an acquisition scenario. That is not always the case," she wrote.