FRAMINGHAM (04/10/2000) - SAP AG said it plans to combine some systems integration business units in Germany and Switzerland with operations that are now partially owned by Siemens AG and Software AG. SAP will have majority ownership of the new company, which will be called SAP Systems Integration AG, but the three vendors expect to offer some shares to the public later this year.
Online grocery shopping and delivery service Peapod Inc. in Skokie, Illinois, has been given a financial respite. Last week, an unnamed potential investor offered Peapod a bridge loan to keep it operating while negotiating "a substantial equity investment," a Peapod spokesman said.
Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in Mountain View, California, last week announced that it would break off its federal government business as a subsidiary named Silicon Graphics Federal Inc., in Silver Spring, Maryland. SGI federal business manager Anthony Robbins was named president of the unit. SGI Federal will focus on modeling and simulation, geospatial imaging and visualization in e-commerce applications.
A U.S. Appeals Court ruled last week that Peter D. Junger, a professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, is protected by the First Amendment in posting encryption source code, overturning a lower-court decision.
Short Takes
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Lotus Development Corp. this week plans to announce the beta availability of Domino.Doc 3.0. ... Boulder, Colorado-based Exabyte Corp. warned investors of a larger than expected first-quarter loss.
... EMC Corp. in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, appointed Joel Schwartz as president of its Data General division, succeeding Robert Dutkowsky.