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SPR stock tumbles
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March 15, 1999: 1:58 p.m. ET
Technology consultant drops merger plans amid less demand for Y2K fixes
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Shares in technology consulting firm SPR Inc. plummeted Monday after the company said it is dropping a planned merger with rival Metamor Worldwide.
SPR (SPRI) fell 4 7/8 to 4 5/8 in midday trading after announcing that industry trends associated with the Year 2000 computer problem had led it to cancel merger plans. In January, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company and Metamor (MMWW ), of Houston, said they would join forces in an estimated $313 million stock swap. The deal was intended to close in April.
SPR had been doing brisk business helping companies ready their technology for the Y2K computer glitch, but those activities recently began to slow down, said Steve Ashley, a senior vice president at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee.
SPR didn't count on the fact that many of its large corporate customers would choose to take care of system testing and other final stages of compliance with Year 2000 readiness in-house, Ashley said. "They're finishing it up themselves and not using SPR for the last segment of it," he said.
Most big companies now are in the final stages of Year 2000 readiness, he said. SPR's clients also have delayed some other technology contracts until the millennium bug problem is over, Ashley said.
Baird has rated SPR stock at "market perform" for the near term, meaning it is trading in line with the rest of the market, and as a market underperform for the long term.
Metamor was up 2 3/8 at 16 1/2 in midday. trading. 
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SPR
Metamor Worldwide
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