General Dynamics buys ViPs

General Dynamics Corp. will acquire ViPs Inc., a provider of health care technology solutions, for $225 million.

The purchase will enhance General Dynamics' health care offerings, particularly in the areas of application development, information assurance and security, the company said.

ViPs offers "complementary capabilities and an expanded customer base in a high-growth market segment for General Dynamics Information Technology," said Dan Johnson, president of General Dynamics IT.

When the acquisition closes later this year, ViPs will become part of the Fairfax, Va.-based General Dynamics IT unit.

Vips, based in Towson, Md., has 600 employees and is a subsidiary of HLTH Corp., of Elmwood Park, N.J., which also owns WebMD Health Corp.

ViPs' roster of health care-related technology solutions includes data management, analytics, decision support and process automation. The company has government and commercial clients.

ViPs was one of 16 companies that won the right to compete last year for information technology tasks stemming from CMS' Enterprise System Development contract valued at $4 billion over 10 years.

General Dynamics, of Falls Church, Va., ranks No. 6 on Washington Technology's 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.