Tera buying Cray

Tera Computer Co., the Seattle-based supercomputer firm, announced Thursday

that it is acquiring the Cray supercomputer business unit from Silicon Graphics

Inc. for an undisclosed price.

"The Cray acquisition advances Tera's growth strategy by creating a profitable,

new company with major market presence. As a combined entity, Cray, Inc.

will have the world's foremost supercomputing technology, R&D manufacturing,

sales and service capabilities," Tera president Jim Rottsolk said.

In a statement, SGI said the sale would enable it to concentrate on a unified

scalable architecture with a broad array of technical applications.

Under terms of the sale, which must be completed within 60 days, Tera will

acquire SGI's Cray supercomputer product line, including the Cray SV1, Cray

T3E and Cray T90.

"The sale of the Cray vector business allows us to sharpen our focus on

delivering application compatibility across a wide range of scalable multiprocessor

systems to meet the needs of the most demanding customers," said Jan Silverman,

vice president of server marketing for SGI.

Cray, which makes some of the fastest supercomputers in the world, has substantial

business with the federal government, including the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration, the Naval Oceanographic Office, NASA and the

Defense Department.

Tera spokesman Lewis Phelps said Tera will "support and maintain Cray machines

out there, including those owned by government agencies."