SGI in talks to sell Alias business

SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) announced that it’s considering the sale of its Alias software business and is now in exclusive negotiations with a private equity investment firm. Alias (formerly Alias/Wavefront) develops the StudioTools products for industrial design and Maya animation software. Alias would operate as an independentcompany if the transaction is completed as currently anticipated. Sales of the entire product line would continue, with no changes in management. For the year ended June 27, 2003, Alias generated $65.1 million in revenue and turned an operating profit of about $5.7 million.

"The sale of Alias will allow both companies to focus on their core marketplaces, while providing additional liquidity to SGI," said Bob Bishop, chair and CEO of SGI. The sale is consistent with SGI’s strategy to focus on high-performance computing, storage, and advanced visualization, with a particular emphasis on Linux.

/p>