Thursday, June 21, 2007

Futures Group Sold for Second Time in Two Years! Defense Contractor SRA International will be New Owner

After being acquired by Constella Group two years ago, the former Futures Group, its contracts and staff will be sold again to SRA International in July. The renamed Constella Futures is part of the wholesale sale of the Constella Group to the large defense contractor. We are stunned by this development especially in view of the tortuous transition process that has disrupted many aspects of the company's work since the original sale - not to mention the wholesale reduction of benefits and remuneration. Now, we will have to endure another transition which management has said will go very smoothly. Of course, that is what management said two years ago before the real troubles began!

SRA International largest market is national security including the the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Department of Defense, Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, other intelligence agencies, and other federal organizations with homeland security missions. They are heavily into data mining in these endeavors as well as in the provision and oversight of IT systems such as e-mail. Given Constella's practice of reading employees e-mails (see below), the two groups will be a good fit in at least one regard.

Various SRA press releases and published articles detail the expected benefits that will accrue to SRA from this purchase. Here is one of the clearer statements justifying the acquisition made by SRA Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Hughes:

"Constella's health market credentials address a key element of our long-term strategy. We expect this transaction to be accretive to earnings in Fiscal Year 2008, with significant cash tax benefits. We believe the strength and stability of our cash flows provide ample borrowing capacity to make further acquisitions in the near term." http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/BREAKING%20NEWS/565577/

An SRA spokesperson chose not to comment about potential layoffs at Constella. Given the layoffs that occurred after the Constella purchase of Futures Group, and the subsequent departure of scores of top staff, who knows what to expect.




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