corrente

Lockheed appears to be running like an antelope out of control away from this deal. Even though they cut the purchase price by quite a lot.

(via San Diego Union-Tribune)

Lockheed Martin's billion-dollar-plus buyout of San Diego's Titan Corp., which turned into a roller-coaster ride when allegations of foreign bribes surfaced in February, has been derailed.

In a statement late yesterday, Titan said it does not expect to reach an agreement to end a Justice Department inquiry in time to meet tonight's deadline for completing the merger.

The buyout, valued at $1.8 billion when it was made nine months ago, ran into trouble in mid-February when the two companies disclosed to federal regulators that they had uncovered potential bribes Titan had paid to win overseas business.

Titan's classified work for the Pentagon and intelligence agencies has helped it double sales in the past five years.

Among other things, Ray described Titan's share of a $10 billion contract the Department of Homeland Security recently awarded to Accenture as substantial. "It could end up being one of the largest contracts we've ever had at Titan," Ray said...

Look for this one to maybe fall apart too...Accenture nearly lost this contract altogether for being owned by an office in Bermuda that doesn't pay US taxes. Another headache of Titanic proportions they do not need.

Titan's troubles got more complicated in May, after an internal Army investigation identified a Titan employee, who was working as a translator, as a suspect in the abuse of inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Another translator working under contract for Titan was identified in the Army report as "directly or indirectly responsible" for abuses at the prison.

Titan has about 4,200 employees, mostly foreign nationals, working in Iraq under a contract to provide linguists to the Army, Ray said.

"Linguists," eh? Cunning of them to phrase it that way.