NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - Tripos today said it has agreed to sell its Discovery Informatics business to San Francisco-based Vector Capital for $26.5 million in cash as an “initial step” in the liquidation of the company.The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.Vector Capital is a boutique private equity firm that specializes in technology recapitalization deals, buyouts, and spin-outs.Tripos disclosed its plans to sell its Discovery Informatics and Discovery Research businesses last week.Tripos said that it expects to distribute between $6 million to $12 million to its shareholders assuming completion of the sale of its Discovery Informatics business to Vector, sale of its Discovery Research business, and completion of certain other transactions.The sale of the Discovery Informatics assets to Vector will allow the business “to continue to serve its computational chemistry and enterprise research IT customers as a private company with greater access to growth capital," said John McAlister, president and CEO of Tripos, in a statement.