Veritas snaps up Pearson Government Solutions

Private equity investment firm Veritas Capital Partners will acquire Pearson Government Solutions for $600 million in a cash and stock deal.

The $600 million includes $560 million in cash and $40 million in preferred stock, according to Eileen Cassidy Rivera, Pearson Government Solutions' vice president of communications. As part of the agreement, parent company Pearson plc will retain 10 percent of equity in the company.

The companies expect to close the transaction in early 2007, after which Veritas will rename Pearson Government Solutions.

Mac Curtis, CEO of Pearson Government Solutions, will retain his current position in the new company.

New York-based Veritas Capital invests in companies that provide outsourcing services to government agencies, mainly in the areas of defense, aerospace, security and infrastructure.

Pearson Government Solutions of Arlington, Va., designs, builds and operates solutions for the U.S. federal, state and local and international governments, higher education institutions and student financial aid organizations. The company employs more than 5,500 workers worldwide and had an annual revenue of more than $500 million in fiscal 2005. Pearson ranks No. 36 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors.

Among Pearson's federal government clients are the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and Veterans Affairs, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Office of Personnel Management.