A Mercury News report published in the Miami Herald speculates that IBM might purchase Network Appliance, a network storage device company. Apparently NetApp shares have surged in response to rumours about a takeover.

Mercury News: Network Appliance shares rise on IBM speculation

Shares of Network Appliance jumped Thursday, for the second day in a row, on speculation that the storage appliance company would be acquired by computer giant IBM.

Network Appliance, based in Sunnyvale, makes storage devices that can be attached to computer servers to expand their storage capacity. It is in one of the fastest growing segments of the storage business, called network attached storage.

There was scepticism from analysts about this: ”

But analysts who follow Network Appliance said a purchase by IBM would be unlikely.

“I would put little credibility in it,” said Daniel Renouard, an analyst with Robert W. Baird. “It would be expensive and the cultural differences are pretty big.”

Apparently, neither company is commenting on the suggestion.

Tags:, ,