Cable tech vendor Aurora Networks Inc. said acquisitions will be among the more aggressive growth opportunities it will pursue after adding a chief financial officer to its ranks.

Aurora, a company that specializes in optical transport gear for MSOs, including Radio Frequency Over Glass (RFoG) equipment, on Monday announced the hiring of CFO Craig McCollam, who spent the last 12 years in that role at Dionex Corp. He's also late of Ensco Inc. and Ernst & Young International . (See Aurora Hires CFO.)

Why this matters
McCollam's initial focus at his new company will be M&A. Aurora "is active on the acquisition trail," Aurora President and CEO Guy Sucharczuk said, in a statement.

Eleven-year-old Aurora made its first-ever acquisition in May, when it purchased GoBackTV Inc. , a maker of cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) and edge QAMs.

Aurora hasn't identified any current targets, but VP of Marketing John Dahlquist told Light Reading Cable in July that the company was already taking a "serious look" at a couple of vendors that are focused on helping cable operators pull fiber further to the home. Some analysts view BigBand Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: BBND) as a possible takeover target, but it may not make much sense for Aurora because BigBand's product focus overlaps GoBackTV's.

Aurora flirted with an initial public offering (IPO) in 2008, but decided to pull it back when the financial markets went into a tailspin. The more recent financial crisis will likely cause Aurora to put that idea on the back burner yet again.

Closely held Aurora doesn't disclose its financial data, but claims that it has enjoyed 21 consecutive quarters of profitability.

For more
Read more about Aurora's role in cable technology developments.

• Aurora Doubles Cable's Upstream
• Aurora Networks Buys Into Docsis, Cable IPTV
• Aurora Gives RFoG a Lift
• Aurora Tackles Cable Cell Backhaul
• Aurora Networks Plays the 'Green' Card
• Videotron Plants 'Fiber Deep'

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable