NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Finnish network equipment maker Nokia said on Wednesday (Nov 29) that it was not in talks to buy US network gear maker Juniper Networks Inc despite earlier reports to the contrary.

"Nokia is not currently in talks with, nor is it preparing an offer for, Juniper Networks related to an acquisition of that company," the company said in a statement.

CNBC had earlier reported, citing sources, that Nokia was in talks to buy Juniper at an offer that would value the company at around US$16 billion (S$21.56 billion).

Juniper had a market capitalization of around US$11.26 billion as of Wednesday's close, according to CNBC.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company's shares had soared 18 per cent to US$35 in extended trading after the CNBC report.

Nokia has been building its telecom equipment business since selling its mobile phone unit to Microsoft Corp.

It bought Alcatel-Lucent for about US$17 billion last year to gave it a larger fixed-line network business and make it less dependent on mobile broadband.

Juniper was not immediately available for comment.