Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which split from HP last year, has acquired SGI, a company that makes servers, storage, and software for data analytics and data management, for $US275 million in cash and debt.

SGI (originally known as Silicon Graphics) was cofounded in 1981 by Jim Clark, who later cofounded Netscape with Marc Andreessen. Following a years-long decline, and after being de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange, SGI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. That year it was acquired by Rackable Systems, which later adopted the SGI branding. SGI’s former campus in Mountain View, California, is now the site of the Googleplex.

The company has approximately 1,100 employees worldwide, and had revenues of $US533 million in fiscal 2016.

“At HPE, we are focused on empowering data-driven organizations,” said Antonio Neri, executive vice president and general manager, Enterprise Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. 

“SGI’s innovative technologies and services, including its best-in-class big data analytics and high performance computing solutions, complement HPE’s proven data center solutions designed to create business insight and accelerate time to value for customers.”

The combined HPE and SGI portfolio, including a comprehensive services capability, will target private and public sector customers seeking larger supercomputer installations, including government agencies as well enterprises looking to leverage high-performance computing for business insights.

High-end systems are being used to advance research in weather, genomics and life sciences, and enhance cyber defences at organisations around the world.