LONDON (Brand Republic) - Cisco Systems has abandoned a deal to buy a 20% stake in online UK videogames store Gameplay, according to reports.
Earlier this month, Cisco was said to be in 鈥渁dvanced talks鈥 with Gameplay to buy a stake worth as much as £17m. The US computer giant was interested in Gameplay鈥檚 Jive technology, which lets users play games on mobile phones, PCs and TVs.
However, according to a story on technology news site The Register, Cisco has now pulled out of the deal because it is annoyed that news of the talks was leaked to the press.
Neither Cisco or Gameplay have commented on the reports. Gameplay鈥檚 share price dropped 2.5p this morning to 85p.
Cisco鈥檚 investment would have been a welcome boost for Gameplay, which has recently had to cut costs by axing 275 jobs and closing eight of its retail outlets.
Cisco, in turn, has not escaped the effects of a slowing US economy. The company, which makes computer networking equipment such as routers, hubs and switches, has announced that it has temporarily stopped recruiting staff.
A slowdown in orders for its products prompted the hiring freeze. Over the last two years, Cisco has recruited 30,000 new staff worldwide, and it receives 25,000 job applications a month.
Cisco鈥檚 chief executive John Chambers said that the current market conditions were very challenging for many of his company鈥檚 customers, but he remained optimistic that the internet and telecoms market would grow by 30%-50% annually in the medium term.
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www.gameplay.co.uk