Johannesburg - ERP.com, the small listed technology company, did not deny yesterday that it was in advanced talks with the AST Group.
In September the two firms brought out cautionary notices one day apart. Last week they brought out more advanced cautionaries, again one day apart.
Peter Forsyth, the chief executive of ERP.com, said the events were not necessarily related, but all would probably be revealed before the end of next week.
He said talks were progressing well but were not yet near conclusion. When asked if due diligence exercises were under way, he would not answer but did say: "(You) are reading the right things into the situation."
Forsyth said the market was at a stage where any information technology company needed to be open-minded about merging, acquiring or "even being acquired".
He gave assurance that no retrenchments were on the cards, nor would there be any material shift in ERP.com's strategy.
To meet the JSE's three-month disclosure requirements, ERP.com would need to publish its year-end results before next Wednesday.
Forsyth said the figures had been held back because of events related to the cautionary.
He said the maidens would be a "pleasant surprise" to the market and would meet expectations, despite a slowdown in business, thanks to the talks.
The share traded in unusually high volumes five times in September. Forsyth did not know who the buyer was and kept his suspicions to himself.
The share closed unchanged yesterday at 35c.