Argon ST puts up 'for sale' sign
By
Nick Wakeman
Argon ST hires the investment bank Stone Key Partners to help the company find a buyer.
Argon ST, a provider of command and control, intelligence and surveillance systems, has hired an investment bank to explore “strategic alternatives,” which nearly always means the company is for sale.
Argon said today it has hired Stone Key Partners of Greenwich, Conn., to advise the company.
Because of the company's work in command and control, intelligence, surveillance and cybersecurity, it is in several of the hotter sectors of the government market, said Jean Stack, with the investment bank Houlihan Lokey.
“I suspect they’ll get a lot of interest,” she said. Although, overall, the price tag on merger and acquisitions was down during the past year, “pricing in the high growth sectors were at or above historical levels,” she said.
Reuters reported that likely bidders would include Boeing Co., BAE System plc, Raytheon Co. and L-3 Communications Inc.
Argon’s major customers include the Army and Navy. The company had $366.1 million in revenue in 2009. Argon ST was formed in 2004 when Argon Engineering Associates and SenSyTech Inc. merged.