Two deals signal a rebound for private equity
By
Ross Wilkers
Two moves by private equity investors in the government market show how both the broader financing conditions have gradually improved and companies have somewhat adjusted amid the pandemic.
Activity among private equity investors in the government market continues to roll on as both the broader financing conditions have gradually improved and companies have somewhat adjusted amid the pandemic.
Two announcements made Thursday help show such. One comes from a newly-rebranded company looking to make its name known and a second represents a familiar move from the backer.
Redwire, the space technology outfit unveiled over the summer, has acquired Roccor to add more hardware products for small satellites and other technologies that go on those platforms. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, while this is Redwire’s fourth transaction with the backing of AE Industrial Partners.
AE Industrial created Redwire through the combination of two other businesses in Deep Space Systems and Adcole, which was then followed by the purchase of on-orbit assembly firm Made in Space.
Roccor's product lineup includes booms, solar arrays, antennas and other items Redwire sees as complementary to larger space infrastructure offerings.
Meanwhile, Arlington Capital Partners has used a recent string of acquisitions with one of its portfolio companies as the platform to unveil a new player in the government technology arena.
BlueHalo was formed through the combination of Aegis Technologies, Excivity, EMRC Heli, Applied Technology Associates and Brilligent Solutions.
Arlington Capital acquired its majority ownership of Aegis in October 2019, then announced the acquisitions of Excivity and EMRC Heli in April of this year. The deals to add Applied Technology Associates and Brilligent led to BlueHalo’s launch under its new name revealed Thursday.
BlueHalo casts itself as a provider of technology and engineering services to agencies in fields such as space, directed energy, missile defense, cybersecurity, intelligence and C4ISR.
This merger of portfolio businesses to create a larger one is far from a new concept for Arlington Capital. It's how they created Polaris Alpha before Parsons acquired that firm, plus Centauri before this company came to the attention of KBR and was acquired.
Of course, private equity buyers are not the only dealmakers returning to the acquisition scene of late. The publicly-traded Parsons plays in many of those same fields as BlueHalo and also announced a buy Thursday focused on them.