Rumors of an impending acquisiton of Pacer Infotec Inc have turned out to be true (CI No 3,322). The mystery bidder is Intermetrics Inc, and the two have already completed the merger and formed a new company AverStar Inc, after receiving approval from their respective shareholders. Burlington, Massachusetts- based Intermetrics and Billerica, Massachusetts-based Infotec will both act as wholly-owned subsidiaries of AverStar, an outfit which hopes to combine Intermetrics’ software development skills with Pacer Infotec’s systems engineering experience. Both are government information technology suppliers, a market that has seen some consolidation over the past few years, making it harder for smaller companies to compete. AverStar will provide services to NASA, the US Health Care Financing Agency, the US Postal Service and the US Department of Defense. Both companies are around 30 years old. Pacer Infotec has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since its initial public offering in 1985, but has now been de-listed. The combined company will seek to grow both internally and by acquisition, and says that with more ready access to capital as a result of the deal, it will strongly consider a public offering of its stock. รก
