Xerox acquires ACS, Dell just acquired Perot Systems....IT services M&A is hot

Two very large IT services industry M&A transactions were recently announced back-to-back......Xerox acquires Affiliated Computer Services Corp. for $6.4 billion (USD) and Dell Computer Corporation acquires Perot Systems Corporation for $3.9 billion (USD).   Both were deals that combined computer hardware and documents with IT services and outsourcing as more and more U.S. based firms are moving more and more to the services side of the IT business.

Shares of the major IT services companies practically all gained on Monday (9/28/2009), as merger mania appeared to draw more attention to the $806 billion IT services industry.

Some analysts think that the economic downturn is apparently giving some tech giants an opportunity to go shopping for companies that could give them expanded services capabilities, including different areas of business and IT consulting.

Large tech companies are currently making bold moves in the downturn to attach themselves to long-term revenue streams and to keep their customers longer.

We expect tech M&A deals to keep picking up steam for the next 12-18 months, along with IT services and enterprise software among the most active sectors. In addition, there are likely to be a few more "copy-cat" mergers similar to Xerox-ACS and Dell-Perot Systems that will most likely be announced.  CSC and Infosys are likely prospects for the next wave mega tech-services mergers.