BearingPoint
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Based in McLean, Virginia, BearingPoint, Inc. (ticker symbol: BE), formerly KPMG Consulting, Inc., is a business consulting, systems integration and managed services firm. They provide business and technology strategy, systems design, architecture, applications implementation, network, systems integration and managed services. The gross revenue reported for the first quarter 2004 was $861 million. In 2003, following lay-offs, the total number of employees was about 16,000.
The company is currently defending itself in several court cases concerning allegations of contracting irregularities and disclosures that its officials overstated its profits in 2003.
The most recent case relates to a $240 million USAID contract about assistance in the development of a competitive private sector in Iraq, where according to a federal investigation the job specifications had mostly been written by BearingPoint itself, effectively excluding competitors from the bid.
On January 2, 2003, BearingPoint announced that it had installed and was helping to operate a financial management information system for the government of Afghanistan. The work was part of a $3.95 million contract the company won to help the government upgrade its accounting system.
In March 2003, the state of Florida retracted an $80 million IT outsourcing deal awarded to BearingPoint after complaints by the losing bidders. Critics pointed to the company's close ties to Governor Jeb Bush. On March 23, BearingPoint announced it had been awarded a three-year, $39.9 million contract from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help Afghanistan implement policy and institutional reform measures that will lead to an improved environment for economic development. The agreement includes an option for another two years, for a total award of $64.1 million.
External links
- Company home page (http://www.bearingpoint.com/)
- Sweetheart deal for Iraq contract (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/8291430.htm?1c) (registration required), The Mercury News, March 27, 2004
- Yahoo! Overview (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BE&d=t)