How CACI's $1.2B Azure Summit acquisition expands its overseas strategy

CACI International’s push for a slightly more global footing has been years in the making and one that company leaders have said would take time to pick up steam.

Through the pending $1.2 billion purchase of Azure Summit Technology, CACI is looking for more pathways to provide its software-based technology for platforms used by U.S. government operators and their global partners.

During CACI’s fiscal first quarter earnings call with investors Thursday, chief executive John Mengucci described Azure Summit’s product line as “similar to everything we’ve shared” about CACI’s radio frequency tech offerings.

As Mengucci sees it, Azure Summit’s products will be “very applicable immediately to all the Five Eyes countries that we serve today.”

Five Eyes is the intelligence alliance comprised of the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.K.

Step one for CACI in its global strategy is to combine its technology with what Azure Summit makes for the benefit of U.S. government customers, Mengucci told analysts.

“The step forward there, of course, is how we look at Five Eyes, NATO and Eastern European countries” where CACI is also selling Switchblade and other products, Mengucci said.

Switchblade is the Azure Summit-made family of transceivers that can provide analog or digital intermediate frequency outputs, or those that shift waves as an intermediate step in the transmission or receipt of signals.

“They are coming with a large number of really mission-focused top-notch engineering and technologists, that will really set us well both in the domestic market for expansion there, and then as we’re slowly but very aggressively working to the international market,” Mengucci said.

More recently, CACI acquired Applied Insight for an undisclosed sum to gain more of a foray in application modernization and other lines of digital transformation work such as cloud computing migration.

CACI brought in  “a company that fills gaps by enhancing our capabilities and customer presence around cloud migration and AI, particularly in the intelligence community,” Mengucci said on the call.

“Applied Insight utilizes repeatable tools and technology that enable faster, more efficient cloud migration, particularly within classified cloud environments. They also have several existing contracts with intelligence community customers to provide AI and machine learning technology development,” Mengucci added.

Fiscal first quarter revenue of $2 billion was 11.2% higher than the prior year period with an organic growth rate of 9.9%, while profit of $215.9 million represented a 23.9% year-over-year increase in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

Reston, Virginia-headquartered CACI lifted its full-year revenue outlook to between $8.1 billion and $8.3 billion versus the prior $7.9 billion-to-$8.1 billion range. EBITDA margin expectations remain in the high 10% range.

CACI has also scheduled Nov. 8 as the date for its next Investor Day, where the company will update everyone on where it has been and where it wants to go next. More to come on that front it seems.