L-3 Buys VARBusiness 500 Firm

L-3 Communications on Friday said it signed a definitive agreement to buy The Titan Corp. (No. 42 on the VARBusiness 500), a San Diego-based security solution provider. The deal is valued at $2.65 billion, including assumed debt. Titan shareholders would get $23.10 per share.

New York-based L-3, a satellite and communications company, said the acquisition gives the company added enterprise IT and homeland security systems expertise.

Some of Titan's major government clients include the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the major intelligence agencies. The company employs about 12,000, three-fourths of whom have U.S. government security clearance, said the company. The deal will add about $2.7 billion in sales and 25 cents in diluted earnings per share to L-3's operations for its fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2006.

The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2005.