Sun Microsystems is to buy StorageTek in a
£2.26bn deal that will create a giant network computing and data
management firm.
The two firms had combined revenues of more
than £7.16bn over the past 12 months.
Sun’s chairman and chief executive, Scott
McNealy, said the company’s technical and financial strength put it
in a good position to act as a consolidator in the IT
industry.
“This acquisition is part of an ongoing
strategy to respond to customers seeking to rationalise their
datacenter purchases to free up time and dollars to focus on
compliance, architectural integration, security and, of course, the
bottom line,” he said.
Patrick Martin, chairman, president and chief
executive of StorageTek, said the deal would be in the best
interests of his company’s customers, shareholders and
employees.
The deal is expected to be completed by the
autumn, when the StorageTek will be completely merged into
Sun.