Cisco Won't Buy Any US Companies Or Hire Any US Workers Until The Tax Code Is Changed [View all]

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Cisco has $46 billion in cash, but CEO John Chambers says he is no longer willing to use it to acquire U.S. companies.

That's because 80 percent of that cash is stored in overseas accounts and if Cisco spends it in the U.S., the company will have to fork over 35 percent in taxes.

For years, he has been trying to get the U.S. to change that tax rule. He's said before that this prevents him from hiring more U.S. workers.

But now he's said he's also stopped shopping for acquisition targets in the U.S., too.

That's a blow, as Cisco has historically been a company that acquires like crazy.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-not-acquiring-us-companies-2013-2

On the other hand, Cisco is in a mature part of the IT business and probably has little need for further acquisitions. It's big router/switch market is rapidly being commoditized.