Cray has today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Appro International, a privately-held developer of advanced scalable supercomputing solutions. Expected to close relatively soon, the deal is for approximately $25 million in cash, which assumes at least a $3.5 million net working capital balance at closing with no debt.
Currently the number 3 provider on the Top100 supercomputer list, Appro builds some of the world’s most advanced high-performance computing (HPC) cluster systems which, following the completion of the agreement, will be sold under the Cray brand. The company itself will become Cray’s newly-formed Cluster Solutions business, led by Daniel Kim, current CEO of Appro, and Cray has stated that it expects to add approximately 90 Appro employees.
‘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,’ said Peter Ungaro, president and CEO of Cray. ‘Appro is one of the market leaders in HPC cluster solutions, and this acquisition is another step forward as we continue to transform Cray into a company that provides world-class offerings to customers across all segments of the supercomputing market, including Big Data. I look forward to welcoming all our new Cray colleagues in this exciting moment for our company – positioning us well for accelerated growth into the future.’
Daniel Kim, CEO of Appro, added: ‘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.’
