Getronics selling government unit

<FONT SIZE=2>&#009;DigitalNet Inc., a Bethesda, Md., startup company, is acquiring Getronics Government Solutions, the U.S. subsidiary of the Dutch company Getronics NV, for approximately $223 million. The purchase is expected to be complete in November if approved by government regulators.</FONT>

DigitalNet Inc., a Bethesda, Md., startup company, is acquiring Getronics Government Solutions, the U.S. subsidiary of the Dutch company Getronics NV, for approximately $223 million. The purchase is expected to be complete in November if approved by government regulators.

Getronics Government Solutions specializes in desktop and network management and solutions to the federal government. Because its parent company is foreign, the unit operated as an independent company with its own board of directors, even though it was 100 percent owned by Getronics.

"This is like winning the Triple Crown. It's a win-win-win for all parties," said Jeff Beck, chief executive officer for the Getronics Government Solutions. "For DigitalNet, they get the initial platform to build the business on. We finally get a parent interested in growing the business we know best, which is the federal government."

DigitalNet was started with $100 million in financing from GTCR Golder Rauner, a Chicago-based private venture capital firm. DigitalNet has just four employees, including Ken Bajaj as chief executive officer and Jack Pearlstein as chief financial officer.

Bajaj has more than a passing familiarity with much of Getronics Government Solutions. He was president of I-Net Inc., a network and desktop outsourcing company, which he sold to Wang Laboratories in 1996. Wang was then acquired by Getronics in 1999.

 

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