GD-Anteon deal set for Thursday close

Anteon International Corp. is selling off one of its divisions to clear the way for its $2.2 billion takeover by General Dynamics Corp.

General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va., announced today that the deal will close Thursday.

The acquisition was first announced in December, but reviews of conflict of interest issues by the Justice Department postponed completion of the deal.

With today's announcement, General Dynamics said that Fairfax, Va.-based Anteon would sell a 900-person unit to Alion Science and Technology Corp. of McLean, Va., to resolve organizational conflicts of interest issues.

The issues involve systems engineering and technical assistance type of work at Anteon, Nicholas Chabraja, chairman, CEO and president of General Dynamics, told analysts June 1.

Alion officials said the company is picking Navy and Air Force work that Anteon held. The work includes the Naval Sea Systems Command SeaPort contracts, an Air Force SAFTAS contract as well as contracts with the Office of Naval Research, the Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research Development Acquisition.

"An acquisition of this magnitude is a turning point for Alion as well," said Alion's chairman and CEO, Bahman Atefi. "We will benefit through an immediate growth in capabilities that mesh with our core strengths of operational and technical expertise."

The deal with Alion will close by June 30.

With the close of the Anteon-General Dynamics deal, General Dynamics will form a new unit, merging Anteon's operations with General Dynamics Network Systems. The new unit will be called General Dynamics Information Technology.

Michael Chandler, currently president of Network Systems, will lead the new unit. He will report to Jerry DeMuro, General Dynamics executive vice president and group executive for the Information Systems and Technology business group.

General Dynamics ranks No. 4 and Anteon ranks No. 12 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of federal IT prime contractors. Alion is ranked No. 57 on the Top 100.