Lockheed Martin has announced its intention to acquired Amor Group, a Scottish IT services provider that specialises in the oil and gas, public sector and transport industries.
The news comes one day after the US defence contractor was announced as the "preferred bidder" for the Ministry of Justice's £125 million service integration and management (SIAM) contract, beating IBM.
Evidently, the UK IT services market is of increasing importance to the company. Besides the MoJ contract, Lockheed Martin also oversaw the most recent UK census, including the IT infrastructure.
Globally, Lockheed Martin's IT services group accounts for 20% of its business – $8.8 billion in 2012.
The Amor acquisition will double Lockheed Martin's IT division in the UK up to 1,000 employees. Lockheed says the deal makes it a "top ten ICT player in the UK market".
Amor Group was founded in 2009, following a management buyout by two Scottish IT companies that had previously been acquired French IT services provider Sword Group. The company's customers include Scottish Power, Centrica, Manchester Airports Group and the Office of Rail Regulation.
Last year, Amor Group appointed Joe Harley, former CIO of the Department of Work and Pensions, as a strategic advisor.
See also: Foreign Office picks Detica for services integration contract
In its most recent financial year, Amor Group grew revenues by 27% to £57 million, and pre-tax profit grew by 22% to £8 million.
As governments cut back on military hardware, IT services are of increasing importance to defence contractors. BAE Systems has also been gunning for IT services work, and earlier this year won an systems integration contract worth up to £80 million from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
