M&As marching forward

Engineered Support Systems Inc. of St. Louis is buying Radian Inc. for $42 million in cash and company stock.

Radian of Alexandria, Va., supplies engineering, logistics support and systems integration services to the Department of Defense. The acquisition of Radian should be immediately accretive to earnings, said Michael Shanahan, chairman and chief executive officer of Engineered Support Systems.

Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, a Los Angeles investment bank, advised Radian and negotiated the deal.

Radian has about 350 employees and operates from facilities adjacent to several key U.S. military installations and at the Pentagon. Radian had revenue of $53 million in 2001.

Meanwhile, Tier Technologies Inc. of Walnut Creek, Calif., reached an agreement with KPMG Consulting Inc., McLean, Va., to acquire its government solutions center. The transaction has an initial value of about $8 million in cash, but Tier will pay another $8.5 million if certain revenue goals are met over the next three years.

The center employs more than 70 people and focuses on providing financial and procurement system solutions to state, county and city governments and agencies.

Also, SAS Institute Inc. of Cary, N.C., is acquiring ABC Technologies Inc. of Beaverton, Ore. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ABC Technologies will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of SAS. Its employees will be offered jobs with SAS.

ABC, a provider of activity-based analytic management software, had 2001 revenue of $32 million. Its public-sector customers include the Army, Marine Corps, Canadian National Defense, United Nations Development Programme and state and local governments. The company has offices in 15 countries. The acquisition is subject to the approval of ABC Technologies' shareholders.