Compaq buys Digital for $9.6 billion!

Compaq Computer Corporation announced this morning that it was purchasingDigital Equipment Corporation (DEC) for a record $9.6 billion, making itthe biggest deal in the history of the computer industry. The purchasemakes DEC a wholly-owned subsidiary of Compaq, which is now the thirdlargest computer maker on the planet.

"We put tremendous value on the customer relationships Digital has cultivated over the past 40 years," said Compaq CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer. "We are committed to supporting these key customer relationships by investing in Digital's strategic assets, particularly its worldwide service organization, as well as its 64-bit leadership with Alpha microprocessors,OpenVMS, Digital Unix and Windows NT enterprise systems, open storage andsoftware products."

The deal, which Compaq says will make it money within a year, had beenrumored for over a year. In the meantime, Digital has been busy shedding divisions and overhead, making the buyout more feasible