Black Box federal spinout makes first acquisition

Once Black Box's government arm, Tyto Athene acquires its first company with the backing of PE owners Arlington Capital Partners.

Tyto Athene, formerly the government business of Black Box, said Tuesday it has acquired Island Information Technology Consultants to add new communications offerings for intelligence agencies.

Terms of the transaction were undisclosed. This is the first acquisition for Herndon, Virginia-based Tyto Athene since it was acquired in August of last year by private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners for $70 million.

Chester, Maryland-based IITC was founded in 2004 and its employees specialize in telecommunications technologies, enterprise security and system support.

IITC is a small woman-owned business that touts larger industry partners such as Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, ManTech International, AT&T, Engility Corp. (acquired by Science Applications International Corp.) and Van Dyke Technology Group (acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group).

“The addition of IITC allows Tyto Athene to continue enhancing its strategic focus on recurring managed services contracts, providing the business with increased revenue visibility, while at the same time expanding its customer base,” Arlington Capital Vice President Gordon Auduong said in a release.

“Additionally, we are excited by the opportunity to augment IITC’s existing capabilities with Tyto Athene’s and provide a broader set of services to IITC’s end customer.”

At the time of the divestiture, Black Box said the government business was a $119 million-revenue entity.