CSC Acquires FCG

Wow, a biggee: CSC gobbles up FCG for $365M. First Consulting Group truly was one of the HIT consulting "firsts," formed in 1980 by several ex-AA gurus headed by Jim Reep, sadly departed. They got into outsourcing early through several big deals like U of Penn and UHHS in Cleveland, growing to over $250M revenue in 2006. U of Penn is on the bubble in March of 2008, however, and Ed Marx's recent departure from UHHS may make that a little softer too. Good time to cash in chips?

If FCG's numbers sounds impressive, check out Computer Scince Corporation: about $15B in world-wide revenue, in almost every IT niche in almost every industry. They've been a powerhouse in HIT for many years as well. Even had a Tandem-based HIS back in the 80s at Long Beach, CA, but got heavily into HIT consulting and outsourcing in the 90s. Interestingly, FCG just lost their CEO, Steve Heck, to Navigant Consulting, where I'm sure he'll grow the IT practice there just as he grew FCG from $15M to $250M during his tenure. Larry Furgeson replaced Heck at FCG, Larry being an old salt going back to the 70s as a super-saleman at Saint in Florida. I actually hired him at McAuto for one weekend, but by Monday, Weil at SAI talked him out of it! Larry headed up American Express when they acquired McAuto, and then got acquired by HBOC. Larry is a class act and I hope he survives the takeover and gets a good slot with CSC. What's it mean for FCG's clients? You tell me!