Science Applications International Corp., a San Diego-based research and engineering firm, will delay its initial public offering until the fall , the second time it has done so after announcing the intention of going public in September.
In a letter to employees, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Dahlberg said because an independent audit of the company’s financial statement is taking longer than anticipated, the IPO will be delayed until after its annual financial report is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission before the filing deadline May 1.
But because the summer is not an especially attractive time for new stock issues, it will likely be completed in the fall, Dahlberg said.
In its filings last year, SAIC said it plans to raise about $1.7 billion from the sale of stock that was originally slated for late January. But in December, SAIC delayed that event until after its annual report or 10-K was filed in April, and after its annual shareholders meeting.
SAIC, the nation’s largest employee-owned defense contractor with more than 43,000 workers, determined to go public last year because it said it was spending too much of its cash , about $2.5 billion during the prior five years , to redeem employee-owned stock.
While the IPO would open ownership of SAIC to the world, its employees would still maintain a vast majority of the stock.
Dahlberg also noted it has yet to sign a negotiated contract agreement with the Greek government relating to work it provided to Greece involving security systems for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. SAIC has already stated in earlier SEC filings that it lost more than $115 million on the contract since the contract’s inception.
, Mike Allen
