Bluestone forms partnership with ECS vets to find acquisition targets

UPDATE: This story has been updated to clarify that Wilson and West will take leadership positions at the company that they acquire.

A pair of seasoned government contracting executives appear to be getting back into the game.

Private equity firm Bluestone Investment Partners announced Thursday that it has partnered with George Wilson and Tom Weston, who worked together at ECS Federal as president and chief financial officer respectively, to look for an initial company to buy and further build it from there.

Wilson and Weston will take on executive roles at the company Bluestone buys.

Prior to ECS, Wilson was a long-time executive with Stanley Associates. He led that company's growth from $2 million to $900 million in annual revenue before its sale to CGI Group in 2010.

He then went on a similar run with ECS, which grew from $120 million to annual sales of around $1 billion when he retired in 2021. During his decade at ECS, he also managed its sale to ASGN Inc. in 2018 and subsequently remained as leader.

Weston served as CFO under Wilson. He also had early stints as CFO at Acentia, Apogen Technologies and BTG Inc. All of those companies were very active in mergers and acquisitions during his time there.

Now they are partnering with Bluestone to target acquisitions of companies generating $25 million in annual revenue and competing for unrestricted contracts. In other words, no set-aside work.

"We have known George and Tom for more than two decades and have long wanted to partner with them,” John Allen, Bluestone co-founder and managing partner, said in a release. “Their record of success in the defense and government technology sector is extraordinary.”

Bluestone’s portfolio includes Axim Geospatial, CBEYONData, Chesapeake Technology International and Precise Systems.