By Light to acquire training system provider

By Light Professional IT Services has agreed to acquire Cole Engineering Services, a developer and integrator of training and analysis systems for military agencies.

Terms of the transaction were undisclosed, but By Light said Thursday it expects to close the deal by the end of the year pending approvals by CESI shareholders and federal regulators.

CESI represents the fourth acquisition for McLean, Virginia-based By Light since private equity firm Sagewind Capital purchased the latter two years ago. Other prior deals for By Light since the company itself was acquired include Axom Technologies, Phacil and Mentova Federal.

The strategy for By Light is much like other private equity-backed platforms: both contractor and its owner all want to create a more formidable player in the market’s middle tier.

In purchasing CESI, By Light wants more capability to develop simulation-based systems for military missions and interoperable architectures for engineering and training environments.

As part of the deal, CESI co-founder and CEO Bryan Cole will be elected to By Light’s board of directors upon closure.