After a spell under the custodianship of E I Du Pont de Nemours Co, the British graphics boards company, originally Benchmark Technologies, latterly Du Pont Pixel, is going back to its founders under the new name 3Dlabs Inc Ltd, in a management buyout on undisclosed terms. As an independent company, 3Dlabs will focus on providing enabling silicon and software technologies for three dimensional graphics on the OEM market. 3Dlabs has assumed the worldwide assets and liabilities of Du Pont Pixel, and will continue to supply existing products and support services to customers. All Du Pont Pixel staff have been transferred to 3Dlabs. Du Pont bought the company because it was a customer for its products and Benchmark was in financial difficulties. The management buyout was led by the original founders, Osman Kent, president and chief executive, and Yavuz Ahiska, vice-president of business development, who have a majority shareholding. The first chip-level product from 3Dlabs will be the GLiNT 300SX, a high performance three-dimensional graphics processor aimed at manufacturers of personal computers, workstations and plug-in accelerator boards. It will sample in the third quarter. 3Dlabs has bases in Egham, Surrey and in San Jose.
