GE To Sell Comstor.net

GE Capital IT Solutions, long rumored to be planning an exit from computer distribution, has agreed to sell subsidiary Comstor.net, said sources close to the company.

The sale of networking distributor Comstor.net comes about four months after the subsidiary broke away from the GE IT Distribution Group, which sells midrange platforms, to exclusively focus on connectivity products. GE previously had sought buyers for the company, but decided against selling the $450 million subsidiary, sources said.

No further information was available Monday morning about Comstor.net's buyer.

In addition to the sale of Comstor, which is expected to be publicly announced this week, GE also wants to sell its other distribution businesses, the sources said. Those businesses are Access Graphics Inc., a distributor of Sun Microsystems Inc. and Silicon Graphics Inc. products, and Integration Alliance Corp., a distributor of the Hewlett-Packard Co. Unix platform.

GE executives could not be reached for comment. Earlier this month, Perry Monych, chief executive of GE IT Distribution, said GE had no plans to abandon distribution, despite speculation that started almost as soon as the company bought Access Graphics two years ago.

"Nobody is being sold. We're doing very well and GE is happy," said Monych.

Executives at several of GE IT Distribution's competitors have expressed interest in purchasing Access Graphics. The company has built a solid reputation over the years for its sales and service of the Sun platform. Only two other distributors -- Merisel Inc., through its Merisel Open Computing Alliance, and Ingram Micro Inc. -- sell Sun products.