An agreement to this effect has been signed between GE Capital Consulting and Metamor. The US software company has its largest subsidiary in Metamor Global Solutions in India. It assists its clients by providing a comprehensive range of customised technology-based solutions. The company has identified acquisition as its main strategy for growth worldwide, including India.

Total consideration for this transaction, which will be accounted for under the purchase method of accounting, is $115 million.

Metamor will also establish a strategic outsourcing relationship with GE Capital. Under this three-year term agreement, Metamor will provide a minimum of $105 million of customised IT solutions to various GE Capital companies. Projects, which have commenced under this agreement, include the implementation of a web-enabled SAP application for GE Capital ITS that willcreate a solution for a web-based order-entry application using SAP R/3, according to a company release.

Metamor has also signed an agreement to acquire approximately 42 per cent of the outstanding shares of Decan, a publicly traded, France-based IT solutions company, and will institute a public tender offer for the remaining shares. The company had recently also acquired Caso Consulting GmbH, a SAP development partner.

Speaking about the latest agreement with GE Capital Consulting, Metamor president and chief operating officer Ken Johnsen said, ``The acquisition of GE Capital Consulting strengthens the breadth of our current e-commerce and consulting service offerings. GE Capital Consulting's focus on collaborative computing and custom application development, as well as the new sales and marketing automation practice area that GE Capital Consulting brings to Metamor, made this an attractive acquisition. We are quite excited about the outsourcing contract with GE Capital that represents our firststrategic alliance of this nature.''

GE Capital Consulting president William Lovell said, ``Metamor Worldwide provides GE Capital Consulting with the strength and resources of a worldwide organisation focused on information technology solutions. The affiliation with Metamor will provide our customers a broader spectrum of services and our consultants with better career path opportunities and training.''