Digital Equipment Corp says it’s finally completed the sale of its semiconductor manufacturing operations to Intel Corp as part of the settlement of a patent infringement case between the two (CI No 3,277). The transaction, which closed over the weekend, includes the transfer of the assets of DEC’s semiconductor manufacturing operations in Hudson, Massachusetts, as well as design and marketing facilities in Austin, Texas, and Jerusalem, Israel, to Intel for about $625m after closing adjustments. The closing made Intel employees out of roughly 1,800 former DEC staff. As previously announced, the settlement will see Intel serve as a foundry for DEC’s 64-bit Alpha microprocessors while Digital retains the Alpha technology and Alpha-related semiconductor design teams to develop future generations of the microprocessor. In addition to the assets changing hands, the closing means the two companies will file documents dismissing previously filed lawsuits in Massachusetts, California and Oregon. Also as part of the settlement, the two have entered into a cross-license of patents and are working together to port DEC’s Unix to systems using Intel’s future 64-bit microprocessors.
