Boston-based IT consulting firm Keane Inc, which has been on the acquisition trail recently, has now agreed to buy privately-held Icom Solutions Ltd, a UK-based provider of business consultancy, workflow, imaging and application management services. The deal will be accomplished through the purchase of Icom’s parent company, Icom Systems Ltd, for roughly $50m. Icom, headquartered in Birmingham, England caters largely to the financial services sector within the UK and saw 1997 revenues of $31m. Revenues for the first half of this year are already $26m, representing a 101% increase on last year’s comparable period. The acquisition, which will be accounted for as a pooling of interests, is expected to be accretive immediately. Another important aspect of the move for Keane is that it provides it with its first foothold in the European marketplace and is in line with the company’s stated goal of becoming a global organization. Icom also comes with an established customer base that includes Royal London Insurance, Guardian Insurance and British Airways. Keane has reserved roughly 895,000 shares which will be exchanged for all outstanding shares of Icom Systems. The exact number of shares changing hands will be based on an average price of Keane stock and the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound. Icom becomes the fourth company acquired by Keane since the year began, having already snapped up Omega Systems Inc, Erudite Software Inc and Bricker & Associates Inc. The existing Icom management team will stay in place, according to Keane.
