Inacom sale appears imminent

It appeared Monday that Micron Electronics Inc. would purchase government

reseller Inacom Government Systems Inc., concluding months of negotiations.

Sources close to the negotiations confirmed the two companies were discussing

a purchase agreement but would not elaborate on the specifics. The deal

is supposed to be finalized later this week.

Companies including GTSI and Intelligent Decisions Inc. were also interested

in purchasing the company.

With less than 2 percent of its annual revenue coming from its federal

division, Inacom Corp. decided in December it was not in the company's best

interest to stay in the federal market. The approach of several federal

resellers to purchase the $140 million subsidiary finalized the corporation's

decision.

The purchase of Inacom will allow Micron to increase its customization

and systems integration capabilities. It will also allow the company to

be more competitive in the federal market.

On Feb. 16, Inacom completed the sale of its customization and logistics

division to Compaq Computer Corp. Through this deal, worth $370 million,

Compaq took control of Inacom's PC distribution and formed a new subsidiary

called Custom Edge. Compaq allowed the more than 2,500 Inacom employees

affected by the sale to retain their jobs.

The sale of the two Inacom divisions is not expected to affect government

contracts or services.