Ball makes deal to add cyber capabilities
By
Nick Wakeman
Ball Aerospace has made the biggest acquisition in its history in a deal to pick up Wavefront Technologies and add new cybesecurity capabilities.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has acquired Wavefront Technologies, an Annapolis Junction, Md., small business that specializes in cybersecurity solutions.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Wavefront brings 100 systems engineers, software engineers and analysts to Ball.
The pick up in skills complements work Ball is already doing in the defense and civilian markets. The deal also brings new customers, company officials said.
Some of Wavefront’s areas of expertise include mission support, network engineering, systems engineering, software development, cybersecurity and program management.
Ball Aerospace claims customers such as the Defense Department, NASA, NOAA and others. Its work includes advanced instruments and sensors, data exploitation systems, and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications.
The investment banking firm Aronson Capital served as an advisor to Wavefront.
The deal is the largest in Ball Aerospace’s history, according to Philip McMann, an Aronson partner.
The deal is a good example of a large defense and aerospace companies making a targeted acquisition to add cyber and intelligence analysis capabilities as well as to gain access to new national security clients, he said.