Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, October 27, 1997
$700 mil deal settles Intel, Digital dispute
BOSTON -- Intel Corp. said today it is buying Digital Equipment Corp.'s Alpha computer chip manufacturing operations as part of a deal to end a legal battle that began when Digital accused Intel of stealing technology.Intel, the world's largest maker of computer chips, said it would pay $700 million for Alpha operations.
The companies said they would put their respective lawsuits on hold pending government approval of the agreement, which they hope will come within six months.
The deal also includes a series of cross-licensing and patent accords for which Intel will pay Digital an undisclosed sum.
The sum would not have a measurable impact on Intel's financial results, Intel president and chief operating officer Craig Barrett said in a telephone news conference.
Digital, based in Maynard, Mass., sued Intel for patent infringement in May. It accused the chip maker of unlawfully using Digital technology in developing its industry-dominating Pentium processors, introduced four years earlier. Intel's payment to Digital ensures that money from Pentium and other chips will continue to roll in.
US West plans to split phone, cable units
NEW YORK -- U S West Inc., the Colorado-based regional telephone company that also owns a cable television empire, said today it plans to split itself into independent telephone and cable companies.U S West said the businesses should do better on their own. The breakup is slated to occur "sometime after mid-1998" subject to approval by regulators and shareholders, it said.
In other news ...
WASHINGTON -- Sales of previously owned homes inched 0.2 percent higher in September, setting a new record, a trade group said today. The gains came entirely in the Northeast. Existing home sales sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.32 million units, up from a revised 4.31 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said. It was the highest level since the group began tracking sales in 1968.