SCIENCE

Instrumental has announced that its board of directors unanimously approved a buyout merger agreement to cash out all of the company's stockholders, with the exception of four of its directors and officers. Pending shareholder approval, the transaction is expected to close on Dec. 31, 2010 or shortly thereafter. There will be no change to the legal structure of the company as a result of the buyout merger transaction, and the company will continue to be known as Instrumental.

Following the transaction, Instrumental will be owned by Henry Newman, Bill Zwicky, Spence Morley and John Bergstrom -- current officers, directors and stockholders of the company. Henry Newman spent 11 years at Cray Research before joining Instrumental in 1992 and has served in senior HPC technology services and management roles since then, most recently as chief technology officer and CEO. Bill Zwicky joined Instrumental in 2004, bringing almost 15 years of experience in high-performance computing to the company. Spence Morley has been a director of Instrumental since 1994 and currently serves as its governance committee chair. John Bergstrom has been a director of Instrumental since 1996 and currently serves as the board chair.

"This merger agreement is, in effect, a management buyout by the individuals who founded Instrumental," said Newman. "The company has a stellar reputation in the industry and we have a very solid and growing project base. As an owner-managed company, this will allow Instrumental to serve its customers even better."