Noblis acquires naval engineering, transformation firm

Noblis, the nonprofit science and technology firm, has acquired McKean Defense to further expand offerings in areas such as engineering and enterprise transformation.

McKean is an employee-owned company that also provides lifecycle management and program management services to the Navy and other defense agencies.

Terms of the deal announced Monday were undisclosed, but Noblis said it also includes McKean's affiliates Mikros Systems and Cabrillo Technologies.

Reston, Virginia-headquartered Noblis also touted McKean as a specialist in Navy surface ship readiness, modernization, sustainment and integration.

With the deal now closed, McKean becomes a subsidiary of Noblis and will be led by Glenn Hickok as president. Hickok will continue in his other role as vice president of Noblis’ defense mission area.

McKean CEO Joseph Carlini stepped down from that position and will act as an adviser to Noblis through the integration process.

“McKean is an employee-owned company (and) as such, it was important for us to join an organization with a strong, ethical foundation, similar values and a singular focus on helping to advance national security priorities,” Carlini said in a release.

“Together, our team can remain agile while adding scale, capabilities and contract vehicles to expand our impacts in the defense mission area and lean further forward in addressing our clients’ changing needs,” added Hickok.

Wolf Den Associates and Baird respectively served as exclusive financial advisers for Noblis and McKean.