Data General chief steps down

Data General chief executive Ronald Skates will step down as part of EMC's acquisition of the server and storage company, EMC said today.

EMC has chosen a final candidate to replace Skates and manage Data General Aviion server line. That appointment will be made in the next few days, said EMC spokesman Mark Fredrickson.

EMC's $1.2 billion acquisition of Data General has been completed, EMC said today. As part of the deal, the company is folding Data General's Clariion storage equipment line in with EMC's products and setting up Data General's Aviion server line as a separate business unit, Fredrickson said.

Under federal regulations regarding the pooling-of-interests method by which Data General was acquired, the EMC Aviion server line may not be spun off, Fredrickson said. "Our commitment to the Aviion line is pretty clear," Fredrickson said. "If we wanted to spin it off, we wouldn't have used the pooling of interest method."

The companies announced regulatory and stockholder approval for the merger Friday. The final price of the deal is $1.2 billion, based on average EMC stock prices for a 20-day period ending October 1, the companies said.