Complete Business Solutions, Inc., which has merged with three
information technology companies in the past year, acquired Providence-
based Sudbury River Consulting Group in late November, according to the
Boston investment banking firm that worked as Sudbury’s financial
consultant on the deal.
“The company has been sold,” said Jan Shields, executive vice
president of Shields & Co., Inc., a Boston investment banking firm that
provided financial consulting services to Sudbury River.
Shields said she could not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
“It’s a strategic acquisition with all the benefits,” Shields
explained. “It’s (CBSI) a larger company with broader markets for them.”
“It should absolutely benefit Sudbury River,” said Robert Kuftinec, a
vice president at Shields & Co. who worked on the transaction.
“CBSI had acquired three other companies prior to Sudbury; it’s part
of their growth strategy,” Kuftinec said. “It’s really not a situation
where Sudbury wasn’t doing well and was acquired out of a problem
situation; it’s more using the synergy of the situation. The two
combined entities will be much stronger than either one alone.”
The acquisition was completed on Monday, Nov. 30, according to
Kuftinec and Tim White, a senior associate who also worked on the CBSI-
Sudbury deal.
Shields & Co. took out a quarter-page advertisement in a recent
edition of the Boston Business Journal announcing that “Sudbury River
Consulting Group, Inc., has been acquired by Complete Business
Solutions, Inc.”
A local spokesman for CBSI declined to comment on the merger last
Tuesday morning, saying he could neither confirm nor deny the report.
CBSI is a publicly traded information technology company (NASDAQ:
CBSI) based in Farmington Hills, Mich. Investor relations staff members
at the Michigan offices could not be reached for comment before press
time last Tuesday.
‘It’s a strategic acquisition with all the benefits.’-Jan ShieldsExecutive V.P.Shields & Co. Inc.
Bradley J. Waugh, CBSI’s regional vice president, was not in his
office early Tuesday morning and could not be reached for comment.
Sudbury River’s President James McKenney was away from his Richmond
Street office last Tuesday and also could not be reached for a comment.
Sudbury River moved its headquarters from Sudbury, Mass., to
Providence in July 1997. The company, which was founded in 1986,
specializes in enterprise resource planning and implementation, or ERP
systems, according to Kuftinec.
Among its clients, according to a press release issued earlier this
year, are General Electric Capital Corp., Smith Barney, Allmerica,
Liberty Mutual Insurance, Hanover Insurance, Corning Inc., Cincinnati
Milacron, Times Mirror and other Fortune 500 companies.
Sudbury River employs about 25 people in New England and the Midwest.
One Rhode Island software industry executive, who asked not to be
identified, indicated that Sudbury River has a talented staff with much
to offer a larger company considering an acquisition.
Kuftinec added, “Sudbury just has a fantastic reputation and a really
high quality work force.”
CBSI became a presence in Rhode Island in January when it merged with
c.w. Costello Inc., in a stock deal valued at about $71 million.
At the time c.w. Costello was a privately owned MIS consulting firm
based in Connecticut with 750 employees and offices in 14 cities,
including Providence.
CBSI has been hot on the acquisition trail, expanding its operation
by acquiring three companies in the last year, including c.w. Costello.
It acquired Synergy Software Inc. of Chicago in November 1997, c.w.
Costello in January 1998, and Claremont Technology Group Inc. in July
1998.
Since the c.w. Costello merger, CBSI announced plans to triple the
company’s Providence office size by moving to the Foundry building from
South Main Street, and double its local staff size to 200 employees.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Sudbury River might also move to
the Foundry building from its location on Richmond Street.
