Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS) provides information technology

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 services as well as business process outsourcing

Business process outsourcing

Business process outsourcing is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific business functions to a third-party service provider. Originally, this was associated with manufacturing firms, such as Coca Cola that outsourced large segments...

 solutions to businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. ACS is based in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

 and the current CEO is Lynn Blodgett. ACS is ranked at number 341 on the 2010 Fortune 500 list. Founded in 1988, by Darwin Deason, ACS now operates in nearly 100 countries, generating over $6 billion annually. As of September 2009, ACS employs approximately 74,000 people.

On September 28, 2009, Xerox Corporation announced plans to acquire ACS in a $6.4 billion transaction. The deal closed on February 8, 2010.

Company history

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS) was founded by Darwin Deason in 1988. Initially created as a data services provider to the financial services industry, Deason led ACS’ expansion into the communications, education, financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, retail, and travel and transportation industries.[4]

ACS expanded beyond banking BPO services

Banking BPO Services

Banking business process outsourcing or banking BPO is a highly specialized sourcing strategy used by banks and lending institutions to support the business acquisition and account servicing activities associated with the customer lending lifecycle...

when it signed a 10-year data processing outsourcing contract with Southland Corp. (7-Eleven). In 1995 ACS became a public company and divested bank data processing. By FY1996 ACS became the fourth largest commercial outsourcer in the U.S.[5] Currently, ACS is best known for its Transportation Solutions Group (TSG), which supports transportation services including electronic toll collection, management of cities’ parking systems, and photo traffic enforcement.[6]

In 2009, ACS ranked #401 on the FORTUNE 500 list and employs about 74,000 people around the world who serve thousands of commercial and government clients.[7]

In February 2010, following its acquisition by Xerox, ACS was replaced by Urban Outfitters on the Standard & Poor 500 Index.

SEC Investigation

In 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified ACS that they were conducting an informal investigation into certain stock option grants made by the Company from October 1998 through March 2005. This was due to the improper and unethical practice of back-dating stock options to specific low points in the stock value. ACS said the executives improperly backdated the price of options grants during a period from 1994 to 2005. During that time, ACS said the executives deliberately chose days on which ACS's stock took a dip as the effective date for the options, making them more valuable when exercised. Rich, King, and Edwards "used hindsight to select favorable grant dates," ACS said in a statement. CEO Mark King and CFO Warren Edwards, both implicated in the wrongdoing, resigned immediately. The former CEO Jeff Rich retired in the beginning of the year, taking an $18.4 million buyout of his backdated options. The $18.4 million buyout of his backdated options resulted in no bonuses to be handed out to the entire company. Also, Jeff Rich announced his intention to resign in September of 2005 because of growing personal problems and the fear of being caught for backdating stock options. He received councel to resign from his Young Presidents Organization.

External links

• ACS Official Website