Bull wants to be king of the HPC hill in Europe and so it's buying science + computing AG (s+c), an HPC solutions and services house in Germany, which happens to be the largest HPC market in Europe.

What it's paying is a secret but the acquisition is supposed to turn Bull into a HPC powerhouse.

Bull CEO Didier Lamouche called it "one of the most important investments the company has made since 2005 supporting its strategic repositioning."

Apparently s+c is big with automotive and aeronautical customers and the manufacturing set in general. It had revenues of $35 million in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, which ended this June.

Based in the Stuttgart area with offices in Munich, Berlin and Düsseldorf, s+c currently employs 270 people.

It's supposed to operate as a free-standing subsidiary and benefit from Bull's expertise in very large-scale IT architectures.

In the last three years, Bull has deployed more than 100 supercomputers in over 15 countries across three continents. Its most recent win is from the Jülich Research Center, Germany's largest HPC center and one of the biggest in the world. Bull is building its new 200 teraflop supercomputer.

The deal should close this quarter.