Veridian shareholders OK acquisition by General Dynamics

The shareholders of Veridian Corp. today approved the sale of the company to General Dynamics Corp. The transaction is expected to close early next week.

Veridian stockholders will receive $35 in cash for each outstanding share of stock. The acquisition already has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and has exited the mandatory waiting period set by antitrust laws.

Veridian of Arlington, Va., ranked No. 22 on this year's Washington Technology Top 100 list of federal prime contractors. It reported revenue in 2002 of $834.1 million, generated by its work in information technology services such as network security, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, systems integration and large-scale systems engineering, mostly for the federal government. More than 75 percent of the company's 7,100 employees hold national security clearances.

General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va., was No. 7 on the Top 100 list. The company's 2002 revenue was $13.8 billion.