Gartner acquires smaller rival Meta

Information technology research firm Gartner on Monday said it will acquire fellow research outfit Meta Group for $162 million in cash in an effort to spur growth.

In a statement, the companies said combining their respective research and sales operations will allow Gartner to grow its future revenue. Gartner also said the company expects to gain some "operational efficiency" in the merger because of the complementary nature of the two companies. Gartner said the acquisition will be accretive to the company's financials in 2005. Gartner last year had revenue of $858 million and profit of $18 million. In 2003, Meta Group had revenues of $122 million and lost $4 million.