AE Industrial Partners to stand up DC office

AE Industrial Partners plans to open up a new office in Washington, D.C. as the private equity firm looks to expand its presence there and seek more opportunities to invest in government contractors.

That office will be led by Chris Emerson, a 25-year market veteran who joined AEI in 2022 as an operating partner and has now been promoted to senior partner. AEI said Thursday that it projects the new office to open during the third quarter of this year.

Emerson led Airbus' U.S. defense subsidiary as chairman and chief executive from 2019 to 2021, a period that included an increased emphasis on space and intelligence growth.

He is currently chairman of the board of directors at All.Space, which AEI's HorizonX venture capital arm is an investor in. He also is a board member at AEI portfolio companies The Atlas Group, Belcan, Firefly Aerospace and York Space Systems.