Network Appliance rigs new Spinnaker

Network Appliance, a manufacturer of data-storage devices, said it planned to buy Spinnaker Networks, for US$300 million in stock.

The deal, which gives Network Appliance access to Spinnaker's software technology, was expected to break even within two quarters, Network Appliance CEO Dan Warmenhoven said.
 
Network Appliance, which recorded US$892 million in revenue and US$76.5 million in net income last year, makes network-attached-storage systems for Fibre Channel and IP networks.

Its customers include Boeing, Merrill Lynch, Texas Instruments, and Yahoo. According to Network Appliance, buying Spinnaker, an 83-employee company whose customers include Industrial Light & Magic, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, will help it compete with IBM, Sun Microsystems, and others by building better-designed networks of distributed computers and disks. Spinnaker's products include file system technology that it developed.

Network Appliance plans to operate Spinnaker as an engineering centre in Pittsburgh, and expects the acquisition to close by January. On 18 November Network Appliance planned to report financial results for its second quarter ended 31 October.