TCS buys global space engineering firm
TeleCommunication Systems Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Trident Space and Defense LLC, a provider of engineering and electronics solutions for global space and defense markets.
TeleCommunication Systems Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Trident Space and Defense LLC, a privately held provider of engineering and electronics solutions for global space and defense markets.
The Annapolis, Md., company will pay an undisclosed amount of cash and 3 million shares of TCS Class A common stock to the private equity firm Admiralty Partners Inc. and certain of its affiliates.
The acquisition of Trident will extend TCS’s core competencies in end-to-end secure wireless communication solutions, including patented technology, TCS said in a statement.
The company, based in Torrence, Calif., was established as TRW Components International in 1976 and for more than 30 years has been a source for satellite communications engineered solutions.
Trident expects 2011 revenue to be more than $40 million, with an EBITDA margin of approximately 15 percent, the announcement states.
“Trident’s position as a key vendor to foreign governments and commercial space customers substantially broadens our global footprint,” said TCS chairman and CEO Maurice Tosé.
As part of this transaction, Jon Kutler, founder, chairman and CEO of Admiralty Partners, will join the TCS board of directors.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2011.