General Dynamics to buy Veridian

General Dynamics Corp. plans to acquire Veridian Corp., a move that will expand General Dynamics' information technology presence in Defense and intelligence agencies.

The two contractors announced a definitive agreement today.

General Dynamics will buy Veridian shares for a total of $1.5 billion. The agreement is subject to the approval of both companies' boards of directors and is expected to close by the end of October.

Veridian, based in Arlington, Va., will have about $1.4 billion in revenues in 2004, according to General Dynamics estimates.

"Veridian has grown dramatically in the past 12 months, and we believe it will reach its full potential as part of General Dynamics," said Nicholas Chabraja, chairman and chief executive officer of General Dynamics.

According to its buyer, Veridian has established its expertise in a number of areas, including network security, intelligence, knowledge discovery, decision support, information systems development and integration, network and enterprise management, and large-scale systems engineering.

The company also works in chemical, biological and nuclear detection. More than 75 percent of Veridian's employees hold national security clearances.