Guardian IT, the ailing disaster recovery firm, up for sale after spending lots of borrowed money in anticipation of business which never happened, has a buyer.

It's Sungard Data Systems, a $2bn t/o disaster recovery player from the US. Sungard values Guardian IT at £168m, inclusive of debt. As Guardian IT's net debt is £110m - this leaves £58m cash for shareholders.

Guardian IT (can we make this shorter - what about GIT?) has accepted the offer - the 80p a share offer is a big hike on the closing price of 33p at Feb 13 - the day before the company disclosed it was in talks which could lead to a deal. ®