Logicon to Absorb Litton's Major IT Companies

Information technology companies Litton PRC and Litton TASC will become part of Logicon Inc. as a result of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s acquisition of Litton Industries Inc. Logicon, Northrop Grumman's IT business, will absorb the two Litton companies by the end of the year. The $5.1 billion acquisition of Litton by Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman closed April 3 and creates a $15 billion defense, electronics, IT and shipbuilding company. For at least the next 60 days, all of Litton will operate as a separate sector of Northrop Grumman as details of the integration of the two companies are worked out. The integration of Litton into Northrop Grumman is expected to be completed by the end of 2001, said Kent Kresa, Northrop Grumman's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We think we can bring all that together and become a powerhouse," he said. Northrop Grumman officials laid out the parameters of the integration April 5. The IT units will integrate along functions. For example, the company will pull together all the elements that do command and control systems into a single operating unit, said Herbert Anderson, corporate vice president, president and CEO of Logicon. "We are going to be looking at each piece and finding the commonalties and putting them together," he said.The combination of Northrop Grumman's IT business and Litton's creates a $4 billion government IT company, Anderson said. "We're still learning a lot [about Litton] but we know we are going to be stronger in areas such as intelligence and postal systems and it will enhance our civilian business," he said. Other key IT areas include information security, command and control systems, health care IT, Defense Department outsourcing and state and local business.