Sun Microsystems Inc has won definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets and liabilities of Integrated Micro Products Plc for $96.1m cash, deciding it wants to add the UK company’s fault-tolerant Unix niche to its product panoply. The company’s ft-Sparc machines are sold mainly into the telecommunications market, and it has collaborated with Sun for some years. Major long-term customers include Motorola Inc and Fujitsu Ltd. Following completion of the sale, Integrated Micro will liquidate as a legal entity, making a series of payments to shareholders expected to amount to about $20.55 per share. The company floated on Nasdaq in 1993 and reported sales of $11.5m for the year to September 30. It will now operate as a business unit within the Sun Microsystems Computer Co’s Enterprise Server & Storage Group. The company will retain its identity, said Proudfoot, but the final trading name has yet to be decided. Chief executive Mark I’Anson will become vice-president and general manager of the new business unit. All 180 staff will be transferred to the new organization, and the company will retain its Consett and Dallas locations. Under terms of its #1m grant against a promise to create 114 more UK jobs (CI No 2,859), the UK Department of Trade & Industry has to approve the takeover by Sun.
