Former CSRA chief Larry Prior joins Carlyle Group

Former CSRA CEO Larry Prior has already lined up a new gig merely months after he led the government IT contractor through its sale to General Dynamics in one of the federal market’s largest deals in years.

Prior has taken up an operating executive role at The Carlyle Group for the global private equity firm’s aerospace, defense and government services team, according to a release posted Wednesday.

The three-decade federal market veteran will offer investment guidance to the group in sourcing and acquisition, plus advise company executives across the Carlyle portfolio on management, operations and growth strategies.

General Dynamics acquired CSRA in a transaction valued at $9.7 billion -- $6.9 billion cash and $2.8 billion in assumed debt. Prior led CSRA from its 2015 inception via the merger of SRA International with the former Computer Sciences Corp. North American public sector business he was head of at the time.

Carlyle Group is best known in the federal market as the group that formerly backed Booz Allen Hamilton after the July 2008 acquisition of the government services contractor for around $2.5 billion.

Booz Allen went public in 2010, then Carlyle gradually sold off more of its stake and completed its exit through a final sale of stock in December 2016.

Carlyle Group acquired national security analytics contractor Novetta in October 2015.