Damon Griggs’ journey back to the c-suite

Damon Griggs knew he would eventually return to a CEO post after having led the sale of Dovel Technologies to Guidehouse in 2021, but didn’t expect it to take another three years.

On Monday, private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners announced its acquisition of Harmonia Holdings and appointment of Griggs as CEO. The completion of that move was the culmination of several steps Griggs and his partner Jon Brooks, former chief legal officer at Dovel, had to take.

First, Griggs had obligations to Guidehouse. He stayed with the company through mid-2022 to help with the transition and integration of Dovel. He also joined a couple company boards of directors.

With those obligations complete, he and Brooks began looking for the right financial partner.

“We went out and interviewed 20 PE firms. We wanted to get the right PE partner first and then we’ll find the right platform,” Griggs told Washington Technology.

Griggs and Brooks had options after their time at Dovel. Or as Griggs said, “Great options."

But the decision to go with Madison Dearborn became clear to them.

“They shared our values. They shared the vision for what we wanted to build. They are easy to work with, and they know the GovCon space really well,” Griggs said.

Madison Dearborn backed LGS Innovations, which was acquired by CACI International for $750 million in 2019, and LinQuest’s now-completed sale to KBR for $737 million.

The PE firm's current holdings include T2S Solutions and Omni Federal, which was acquired during the summer.

“We officially partnered with Madison Dearborn at the end of 2022,” Griggs said. “We’ve been their eyes and ears since then looking at the GovCon space, especially focused on federal civilian.”

Before the connection with Harmonia, Griggs estimated that they looked at over 100 companies.

“We got close with many but for whatever reason it just didn’t feel quite right at the end,” he said. “But with Harmonia, it felt right across the board. Not just for us but for Harmonia as well.”

The Harmonia transaction's structure supports Griggs’ perspective.

Harmonia's co-founders Pallabi Saboo and Jai Saboo have retained an ownership interest in the company. They will also continue as strategic advisers. Pallabi Saboo will sit on the company’s board of directors.

Anil Patibandla will continue as Harmonia’s president. Dr. Marc Abrams, another co-founder, will continue as chief technology officer.

Brooks will work as chief business and legal officer. He and Griggs do not plan to change any existing management positions.

Previous owners retaining a financial stake in their companies has become commonplace in today’s market. It also brings tangible benefits, according to Griggs.

“They built an amazing company,” Griggs said. "Even though I’m coming as CEO, they will still be integral to our success going forward.”

The Saboos bring a valuable perspective and wanted to stay involved, so they are invested in the company.

“They believe in the future of the company, and they believe in my leadership to grow the business so they wanted to stay involved,” Griggs said.

Madison Dearborn also likes sellers who stay involved.

“They have a lot of experience working with founders, so this isn’t just a transaction,” Griggs said. “This is meant to a long-term partnership.”

Griggs isn’t shy about his goal for Harmonia to reach $1 billion in annual revenue within five-to-seven years, starting from Harmonia’s base of around $100 million. Dovel was on-track for that kind of growth before Guidehouse bought the company.

Harmonia is well-established with national security agencies, Homeland Security, State and Agriculture departments. The Census Bureau is also a client.

But Griggs also sees growth opportunities in the health sector. Through a joint venture, Harmonia holds a spot on the Veterans Affairs’ Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation 2 contract.

They see other health related opportunities across the market as well.

Harmonia also plans to invest in tech-enabled services such as bringing more automation to their offerings.

“This will help differentiate our proposals as well as help our customers,” Griggs said.

The company will also pursue acquisitions. They have a bit of a fast start there in that Griggs and Brooks looked at 100 companies before closing the Harmonia move. Some of those companies are takeover targets, he said.

“Maybe they weren't exactly the perfect fit as a platform, but they could be a great tuck-in,” he said.

Griggs has four C’s that he looks for – complementary capabilities, customers, contracts and culture.

They will continue to be picky.

“We want to be deep with a certain set of customers and have very deep, trusted relationships,” he said.