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Cray agrees to buy Appro for $25 million cash

On announcing the firm's third quarter results, in which the supercomputer maker recorded a net loss, Cray will acquire high-performance computing developer Appro for $25m.
Written by Zack Whittaker, Contributor

Supercomputer maker Cray has signed an agreement to buy Appro International, a developer of advanced scalable supercomputer applications, for approximately $25 million in an all-cash deal.

Upon the deal closing -- at time frame was not given but Cray said "possibly within the next few days or weeks," subject to customary closing conditions -- Appro will become Cray's newly-created Cluster Solutions business, led by Appro chief executive Daniel Kim.

The supercomputing giant, which is currently gunning for the world's fastest supercomputer mark with a design capable of reaching 20-petaflops, also reported a net loss for the third quarter of $5.2 million, compared to a $12.2 million loss on the same quarter a year ago. Revenue was down to $35.7 million compared to $36.7 million on the same quarter a year ago, a year-on-year loss of about 3 percent. The firm's gross profit margin increased to 48 percent compared from 44 percent on Q3 2011.

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Cray will then sell Appro's high-performance computing (HPC) cluster products under the Cray brand. Also, approximately 90 Appro staff will join the ranks of Cray once the deal closes.

Cray chief executive and president Peter Ungaro said in prepared remarks:

Cray has always been a company with a singular focus on the high performance computing market, and with this acquisition, we have strengthened that commitment and will now be positioned to expand our portfolio of highly innovative supercomputing solutions.

Based in Milpitas, CA., Appro develops scalable applications for supercomputers, allowing scientists and researchers to take advantage of the full-breadth of the computer's high-performance technology. The company says that it provides some of the world's most advanced HPC cluster systems.

Its range of supercomputer-designed applications allow for performance optimized processing and power-efficient use in environments where ordinary machines cannot hold up to the task, such as analyzing vast quantities of information and data modelling. 

Kim added to the remarks:

We are excited to be joining a company like Cray that is an industry leader in designing and building the most advanced supercomputing systems in the world. Cray has the strongest brand in the supercomputing market, and this deal allows Appro to bring our cluster solutions to customers around the world with enhanced service, storage and Big Data capabilities.

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