Gartner rolls up another analyst firm; Buys Burton Group

Just a few weeks removed from its purchase of AMR Research, Gartner has acquired the Burton Group too.

In a statement Tuesday, Gartner said that it acquired Burton Group on Dec. 30 for $56 million. The Burton Group has 41 analysts , 40 sales folks and annual revenue of $30 million. Gartner paid $64 million for AMR, which had $40 million in revenue.

Like the AMR purchase, Gartner said that it will use the Burton acquisition to expand its offerings and IT research. Under generally accepted accounting practices, the Burton purchase will dilute earnings by 10 cents a share to 12 cents a share in 2010 and modestly add to earnings in 2011. Excluding charges, Burton will be "modestly accretive" to earnings in 2010 and add 4 cents a share to 6 cents a share in 2011.