Jyra Research Inc, the small UK start-up that is readying Java network monitoring tools and whose Nasdaq-traded share have been the subject of a lot of interest in the past few weeks has signed Deutsche Morgan Grenfell as its investment banker to advise on corporate strategies. These are busy times for 30-person Jyra, which is based in Hertfordshire, just north of London with a sales office in San Jose, California. Deutsche declined to comment on plans for the company, but sources close to the company have told us that Jyra is an acquisition target, possibly of Cisco Systems Inc, with Microsoft Corp also having been mentioned in the past. Today, Friday, the company’s stock will split two-for-one in the form of a 100% stock dividend. It is thought a number of investors have been shorting the stock – the practice of betting against another investor on a stock at a high price in the belief that the share price will fall so you can buy them at a much lower price, pay the broker his or her commission and pocket the profit. A quick look at the trading chart will make it apparent at what point the short sellers are aiming – around $19. They had risen as high as $35 two weeks ago. That gave the company a market capitalization of around $220m. The company recorded revenues of $226,276 in the second quarter. Jyra’s Systems Management Architecture 2.0 is due for public release in London on September 25. Yesterday Jyra closed up $0.375 at $19.50.
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