EDS Completes Acquisition Of SAP Integrator

Electronic Data Systems, the nation's second largest outsourcer, has completed its acquisition of SAP specialist Global Enterprise Management Solutions for an undisclosed sum, according to a statement issued Thursday by GEMS's financial adviser.

"The acquisition allows for greater speed to market for EDS by tapping into GEMS high level, India-based expertise of SAP solutions," said Brian Boyle, managing director for RSM EquiCo Capital Markets, in a statement.

EDS announced its intention to acquire GEMS on Nov. 13.

GEMS, based in Irvine, Texas, provides business customers with a range of services around SAP's enterprise software, including integration, legacy migration, and hosting. Its customer list includes DHL, Samsung, and Ticketmaster. GEMS also has partnered with EDS on a number of customer engagements.

As part of the deal, about 150 GEMS employees will join EDS, giving the outsourcer an immediate boost in SAP-qualified programmers, which are in hot demand in the tech industry. The median annual salary for an SAP project manager in the United States is $89,000, according to Salary.com.

EDS is looking to build out its workforce in part through acquisitions. In October, it said it would pay $150 million to increase its ownership stake in Mphasis BFL, which provides outsourced application development and business services from India.

Mphasis give EDS about 11,000 employees in India, where the company wants to grow to take advantage of the country's low-cost workforce. In addition to offices in Dallas and Germany, GEMS maintains an Indian development center.