SunGard Data Systems is to purchase Comdisco's Availability Solutions (Technology Services) disaster recovery business, after submitting an $825 million winning bid in a court-authorised auction.
The agreement is subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois at a hearing set for 23 October, 2001.
SunGard was locked in a bidding war with HP, which had already entered an agreed bid of $610 million for Comdisco. The World Trade Centre catastrophe put a premium on Comdisco's disaster recovery services and raised the stakes for SunGard which had experienced unprecedented demand from financial companies for back-up services in the aftermath of the disaster.
The sale includes the purchase of assets of Comdisco's US operations and its back-up facilities in the United Kingdom, France and Canada, but excludes subsidiaries in Germany and Spain. Comdisco's Network Services and IT CAP Solutions units are also excluded from the deal.