Acquisition talk boosts IIS shares

Shares of Intelligent Information Systems shot up 1 5/16, or 24 percent, to 6 11/16 Monday on reports that Sun Microsystems might be interested in acquiring StoreAge Networking Systems, an Israeli startup that's majority owned by IIS.

The Globes financial daily reported this weekend that Sun (Nasdaq: SUNW) was interested in buying the Haifa-based company for between $250 million to $300 million.

IIS (Nasdaq: IISLF) holds a 58.5 percent stake in StoreAge Networking Systems.

"We have had many potential customers who have seen this product express interest in the product and our company but we are not negotiating with anyone at this stage," CEO Robi Hartman told Reuters. "We have had many big name companies come to visit."

StoreAge develops applications for managing storage area networks, which run parallel to local area networks.

Sun shares were off 4 5/64 to 89 5/8 Monday afternoon.

In fiscal 1999, IIS posted a loss of $4.8 million, or 55 cents a share, on sales of $6 million.

Its shares surged to a 52-week high of 10 in March after falling to a low of 1/2 in April.

Reuters contributed to this report.>