CenturyLink's Savvis To Buy Ciber Assets

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Savvis, which itself was purchased by CenturyLink last year for $2.5 billion, is making a buy of its own.

Savvis, which specializes in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises, announced Tuesday that it is buying certain assets of Ciber’s global IT outsourcing (ITO) business for $7 million in cash and additional future consideration in the form of a cash earn-out payment based on results through the end of next year.

Savvis says the assets include client and vendor relationships, infrastructure, technology and facilities spanning several countries. In addition, Savvis expects to hire the approximately 750 people who currently support Ciber’s global ITO business.

Savvis plans to provide ITO clients with continued IT outsourcing support in addition to offering its enhanced capabilities, including cloud services. It is expected that clients will benefit from the direct relationship with Savvis, as well as the enhanced communications services provided through CenturyLink’s global network.

Ciber will continue to provide clients full lifecycle application development and outsourcing solutions, including system design, implementation and managed services, partnering with Savvis to leverage its expertise and resources in the physical infrastructure.

“The acquisition of Ciber’s global ITO business will complement Savvis’ existing ITO assets by expanding the organization’s capabilities for application management services and help desk support,” said Jim Ousley, chief executive officer of Savvis and president of CenturyLink’s Enterprise Markets Group. “Ciber’s ITO customers will also benefit by gaining access to Savvis’ global footprint, services and account teams.”

Completion of the deal is subject standard closing conditions. Look for it to be wrapped up sometime in the fourth quarter.