SAIC closes acquisition of Quality Research

Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego has bought Quality Research Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., SAIC officials announced this week. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Information technology firm QRI specializes in modeling and simulation, training and technical and engineering services. The company was founded in 1990 and had $63 million in 2002 revenue. The company's more than 630 employees, located around the United States, will become part of SAIC's Applied Technology Group in Huntsville.The acquisition solidifies a long, successful relationship between SAIC and QRI, said Bill Gurley, SAIC senior vice president and manager of its AT Group. QRI has been a small-business protégé of SAIC since 1992 under a formal Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé agreement.Gary Ryan, QRI president, said his employees are looking forward to joining SAIC, and his customers are satisfied with the move as well. The firm recently graduated from the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program, which provides assistance to small, disadvantaged businesses, including set-aside contracts. After graduation, "we were too small to be big, and too big to be small," Ryan said. "We found ourselves competing in a large company marketplace without the resources of a large company. SAIC provides us the big company framework with the agility and flexibility to take care of our customers and employees in the manner in which they are accustomed."SAIC provides IT and systems integration solutions to commercial and government customers. The company has annual revenue of $6.1 billion. SAIC and its subsidiaries, employ more than 41,000 people worldwide.