Where’s the value in NCI's $56M acquisition?
By
Nick Wakeman
NCI Inc. buys Computech for $56 million as it tries to diversify its portfolio. What is it getting for its money?
NCI Inc. closed 2014 and its 25th year in business with a $56 million acquisition of Computech that the company says furthers its growth strategy.
The strategy is focused on developing new customers and service offerings, according to Brian J. Clark, NCI president.
So, what does Computech bring NCI?
First off, more civilian customers. The company lists its major customers as the FCC, Homeland Security Department, Executive Office of the President, IRS, the House of Representatives and U.S. International Trade Commission.
It’s important to note that it doesn’t list any Defense Department customers. NCI already has plenty of those.
DOD is by far the company’s biggest customer, accounting for 75 percent of NCI’s revenue, according to the company’s latest annual report.
Computech also has intellectual property, particularly its application operations and maintenance approach, which it has branded Agile O&M. Other capabilities include IT modernization, data strategy, analytics and visualization, and big data processing.
Computech has 175 employees and $40 million in 2014 revenue.
The investment bank Houlihan Lokey advised Computech, and banker Jean Stack said that companies like Computech are in high demand in today’s market because they have full-and-open contracts, strong relationships and past performance with civilian agencies.
According to a report by CRN, Computech will become its own division at NCI, led by Computech president Larry Fitzpatrick, as senior vice president and general manager.
This is NCI’s first acquisition since 2011.