Veritas buys majority stake in McNeil Technologies

Veritas Capital Fund II LP purchased a majority stake in McNeil Technologies Inc, a Springfield, Va., provider of professional and technical services to federal and state governments, for an undisclosed amount, the company said today.

Veritas Capital, a private equity firm based in New York, intends to use McNeil Technologies as a platform company to acquire other firms, said James McNeil, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of McNeil Technologies. Veritas Capital holds a majority stake in McNeil Technologies, with McNeil holding the rest.

McNeil Technologies provides information management, consulting services, language services and security services to government clients, including the Defense and Justice departments, intelligence agencies, other federal agencies and some state agencies. The company has more than 900 workers and wants to expand through internal growth and acquisitions. In January, McNeil Technologies bought Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Research and Evaluation Associates Inc., a full-service applied research firm, for an undisclosed amount.

McNeil Technologies posted revenue of $52 million in 2003. The company expects to see its revenue grow to $300 million by 2006 and close to $500 million in 2007, McNeil said.

"I am confident Veritas Capital will immediately enhance our ability to grow our business organically and through future acquisitions," McNeil said in a statement. "Partnering with Veritas Capital will enhance our standing as an important services provider to our national security clients."

In a separate announcement, McNeil Technologies said Gerry Decker, a former vice president of DynCorp, was appointed chief operating officer. Decker will work with Ronald Thomas, the company's president and former chief operating officer, who will focus on strategic planning and acquisitions. The rest of the company's management team will remain the same, McNeil said.

Aronson Capital Partners LLC, a Rockville, Md., firm that provides merger and acquisition advisory services to privately held companies in the government sector, was the exclusive advisor on the sale. The sale of McNeil Technologies is the fifth transaction Aronson Capital Partners has completed this year.