In the hope that it will lock them in to the MIPS Computer Systems Inc RISC family, Silicon Graphics Inc has persuaded eight of the major MIPS chip users and fabricators – Control Data Systems Inc, Integrated Device Technology Inc, NEC Corp, Sumishomo Electronics Co Ltd, Sumitomo Corp, Tandem Computers Inc, Tata Enterprises Overseas Pte Ltd and Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc to participate in a modest way in the share offering it is making to raise cash to bolster the balance sheet of its MIPS Computer Systems acquisition. The eight will share only 1.5m shares between them, representing just 2.4% of the shares the company will have outstanding after the 5.1m share issue. Such cross-shareholdings are commonplace in Japan and in continental Europe, but tend not to work so well in the US – Control Data had 20% of Silicon Graphics and sold it; Compaq Computer Corp sold the stake it bought to cement the Advanced Computing Environment Initiative in less than a year. Now Silicon Graphics is to take a 10% stake in Control Data Systems.
