Question marks have been raised over the future of Silicon Graphics Inc should the 20% stake held by Control Data Corp fall into hostile hands: CDC has been divesting its investments where possible, and although it could release the shares onto the market by making a secondary prospectus issue as Apple is doing with its Adobe shares (see below), it would likely get a better price by selling to a single buyer that had designs on Mountain View company. It could also pass the shares on to a company that would be supportive of Silicon Graphics, and Bull SA of France has been mentioned in this context. Shrugging off any worries on that count, Silicon Graphics is moving to consolidate its rapid expansion in Europe and the International Division has added new subsidiaries in Belgium and Norway, and new offices in France and the UK. Headquartered in Geneva – it manufactures its three dimensional graphics workstations for Europe in Neuchatel – the International Division currently accounts for about a third of the company’s annual business, and the new openings bring the total number of subsidiaries to 14, with 24 branch offices in 20 countries. The new northern England district office will be managed by Robert Henson, formerly with Apollo and Ardent. The new Toulouse office in France, will focus on the aerospace industry and will be opened by Patrick Revoise, who was formerly with Tektronix SA.
