Akimeka LLC, a health service information technology consulting company with headquarters at the Maui Research & Technology Park, has been acquired by VSE Corp. of Alexandria, Va.
The company did not reveal the price, but Forbes.com reported it was $33 million. Akimeka had sales of $38 million in 2009 and operating income of $6.5 million.
It has offices in Virginia, Florida and Texas, as well as Maui, and provides computerized information services to the Department of Defense to manage health and logistics records. Among its projects has been to make medical records from the different military services compatible for computer use.
Its founder, Vaughn Vasconcellos, was not available for comment Tuesday. In a news release, he said: "We are excited about the opportunity to continue our growth with VSE. We share common goals with VSE and see this acquisition as very positive for the state of Hawaii, our customers and Akimeka employees."
Akimeka has won several awards, including the Ko'i Award of the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce.
VSE is a billion-dollar company selling a variety of services to the federal government in logistics, engineering, information technology services, construction management and consulting.
The news release said Akimeka complements VSE's most recent acquisition, G&B Solutions, which provides information technology services to many federal agencies, including the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior and Labor; the Social Security Administration; the Pension Benefits Guarantee Corp.; and the National Institutes of Health.
VSE President Maurice Gauthier said: "The acquisition of Akimeka is a strategic move by VSE to strengthen our IT offerings, particularly in the sector of health IT. G&B Solutions, a VSE subsidiary, has health IT customers in the civilian agencies such as NIH and now we add Akimeka, which has an excellent portfolio of defense agency health IT customers.
"Akimeka is a well managed, respected and profitable information technology company. Not only did we find the right strategic fit, we also found a great cultural fit. The acquisition brings over 200 employees to our staff, and it adds momentum to our strategic plan for growth and increasing profitability."
For more information, visit www.akimeka.com and www.vsecorp.com.
* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.
