Xerox to spin off PARC
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December 11, 2001: 2:45 p.m. ET
Company will make research center independent, seek outside partners.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Xerox Corp said Tuesday it will turn Xerox PARC, its famed Palo Alto Research Center, into an independent company and seek strategic partners for the project.
The company said active discussions are under way with "key potential investors."
"The current PARC organization will be the nucleus of the new company, but we intend to augment it with business development and management functions," President Herve Gallaire of Xerox Innovation Group said. "We have developed a model that will preserve the culture and innovative capacity of PARC."
The newly formed company is expected to begin operations after Jan. 1 as a wholly owned Xerox (XRX: up $0.15 to $8.60, Research, Estimates) subsidiary. Under that structure, Xerox will continue to maintain access to PARC's research and technology.
PARC employees will transfer from Xerox to the new company and an external search for a CEO of this company is under way, Xerox said.
Xerox PARC, founded in 1970,� is one of seven Xerox global research centers.
PARC has been the source of many major technology breakthroughs over the years. Researchers there conceptualized the first notion of the desktop computer and laid the groundwork for the graphical user interface that is included in today's computer operating systems. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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