back to article Serco buys US government reseller

Serco is to acquire SI International, an IT reseller specialising in the US federal market, for $423m cash - a 40 per cent premium on SI's closing price on NASDAQ yesterday. Serco is also asssuming net debt of $87.3m, so the enterprise value of the deal is $510m - a multiple of 12.3 on forecast EBITDA for 2008. Serco is …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    SERCO, aren't they the ones that

    were talking about laying off the staff from it's last UK aquisition, ITNET as they lost most of the contracts that came with it on re-bid?

    When they lose the rest of the UK gov deals they have, will they move completely stateside and take the ghastly GATSO's with them?

  2. Geoff
    Thumb Down

    Serco with botch this...

    Like they botch everything else.

    I've both worked for and Contracted to Serco for 4 years in total, I can tell you that they are not geared up to be a reseller, they dont understand the business because they work on low margins and services, they do not know how to sell products. The best thing that Serco can do, is leave this business completely alone to run itself, but that isn't what will happen, some management bigwig will walk in, impose "Serco Culture" on the company, lower the Margins to make the business "More Competitive" and in doing so, the profit of the business will drop out of the floor and it'll collapse, much like what happened with ITNet.

    Serco is doing this, because it wants to provide IT Services to US Government, it's got aspirations to be the next EDS and a it has a few UK Government IT contracts in it's bag, most of which are run appallingly, although no more appallingly than their nearest competitors.

    If Serco wants to stay successful, it should stick to Trains, Prisoners and Maintenance Services.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    accretive

    huh? or should I say, yuk.

  4. Optymystic

    Serco Also Serves

    Let's not omit the SAS camp, Bradford Education services, Stoke Education Services and Walsall Education Services from the Serco service list

  5. Chris G

    So they are going to

    Transform the White House into a council office.

    In my experience their ethos here in the UK is to win and operate contracts by paying peanuts (to staff) and cutting maintenance to the bone along with cutting any corner they can, reasonable or otherwise.

    A typical council tendering bean counter's outfit with no real idea of enterprise.

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