Agreement Made to Sell McDonnell Douglas Unit

McDonnell Douglas Corp. said Monday that it has agreed to sell Systems Integration Co. to Electronic Data Systems Corp. for an undisclosed price.

The St. Louis-based unit of McDonnell Douglas had 1990 worldwide revenues of $398 million along with domestic revenues of $271 million. The unit employs about 2,000 workers, most of them in St. Louis, and operates facilities in Cypress and Cambridge, England.

McDonnell Douglas spokeswoman Ellen Ferrara said the sale will probably close in about 90 days.

Analysts have estimated that the sale would bring in as much as $350 million to McDonnell Douglas, which has been trying to cut its $2.9-billion debt load by selling assets that are not part of its “core” activities.

McDonnell Douglas had confirmed last week that the unit, which handles the company’s computer-aided design and manufacturing work used to help design the company’s airplanes, was on the block. This work is known as CAD/CAM.