The move should give the company supercomputing market presence, including federal business
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."
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