According to Research Engineers chairman and CEO Amrit Das, NetGuru, with fiscal 1998 revenues of about $6 million, has been profitable since its incorporation as a private company in 1994 and has no debt. The potential acquisition of NetGuru, combined with the company's acquisition of R-Cube in February, gives Research annualised IT revenues in excess of $11 million on a pro-forma basis.

The price of the acquisition will be $4.2 million of which $3 million will be paid in cash and the balance in the form of a promissory note to the seller. The acquisition, which will be accounted for as a purchase, is subject to certain conditions, and is expected be completed by July 31.

NetGuru provides value-oriented software solutions and has extensive expertise with Oracle, software quality assurance (internet,Oracle, ERP, CTI and e-commerce), as well as internet application development. NetGuru's IT services target a wide range of industries, including financial services, insurance, high-tech software developers and hardware manufacturers as well as the manufacturing, retail and pharmaceutical industries. Its customer list includes Hewlett-Packard, Fidelity Investments, Lotus Development Corporation, IBM, Harvard Industries, Sun Microsystems, Bose, Siemens, Arbella Insurance, Dartmouth Medical Center, GE, PHCS, 3Com and Cisco Systems.

"The IT services industry is a burgeoning $90 billion industry and is an important element of our overall growth strategy to quickly capture a significant market share," commented president and COO Jyoti Chatterjee, in a statement. "In February, we completed the acquisition of R-Cube Technologies and are integrating it with our India-based Techna Consulting Services group. The integration of R-Cube, Techna and NetGuru will achieve the geographical balance, industry-wide penetrationand critical mass that is necessary to establish REI as a world-class IT services company," added Chatterjee.

"Research Engineers and NetGuru share a common vision and value system," said NetGuru president and CEO Bharat Manglani.

Research Engineers is a leading developer and distributor of high-quality PC-based software solutions and related IT services for the engineering industry. The company's core business is the development of cost-effective, Windows-based engineering solutions for the leaders in the architectural, commercial, transportation, and utility industries.