GE agrees to buy SBS Technologies for $215 mln

NEW YORK, Mar 20 (Reuters) General Electric Co. said on Monday it agreed to buy SBS Technologies Inc., a maker of embedded computer products, for about 5 million in cash.

GE said its unit GE Fanuc Embedded Systems agreed to pay .50 a share, which represents a premium of about 55 per cent over SBS Technologies' closing price on Friday of .64.

SBS Technologies -- which is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with locations in Minnesota, Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Germany, Canada and China -- designs and builds computer boards and systems for products such as robots, aircraft, spacecraft and unmanned vehicles.

''We believe the combined entity will be in a position to serve a variety of customers including those interested in communications, medical imaging, industrial automation, and military systems,'' said Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO of GE Fanuc, in a statement.

REUTERS SD VC1930