Enlightenment Capital, announced that ACES Incorporated (Analysis, Computing and Engineering Solutions, Incorporated), has become part of the foundation of its new portfolio company, EverWatch. ACES provides intelligence analysis, software development and system engineering to the intelligence community and the U.S. DOD. The McLean Group’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services (ADG) practice served as the exclusive transaction advisor to ACES. The McLean Group has advised on 21 deals involving clients that support the intelligence community since 2013. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“ACES provides us with a solid platform to further expand our intelligence analysis, Defense and Deployed Mission Support offerings. ACES employees have extensive experience in building prototype systems, guiding new development efforts, and a deep knowledge of signal analysis, all of which are at the core of EverWatch. This addition will undoubtedly bolster EverWatch’s growth in the federal space.”
- Robert Miller, President of EverWatch
Jeb Pair, ACES’s Founder and CEO said, “The McLean Group team ran a thorough and highly effective process which allowed me and my team to focus on our core business. This enabled us to find a partner that was the right fit for our management team’s professional aspirations while complementing our firm’s cultural requirements. The McLean Group provided us with multiple opportunities that checked all of our requirements and we believe that we found a partner in EverWatch that positions ACES for years of success. The McLean Group truly served as a trusted advisor and provided senior level commitment at every step of the process.”
This transaction highlights several trends in the current Government Services M&A environment, including:
- The highly favorable budgetary environment continues to drive an extremely acquisitive Defense and Government Services market. Acquirers continue to search for acquisition partners whose capabilities align with federal spending priorities, specifically: Cyber Security, IT Modernization, and Cloud Computing.
- Private equity buyers continued to play an influential role in the market and accounted for 33 of the 63 ADG transactions tracked by the McLean Group in Q3 2018. In addition to Enlightenment Capital private equity firms such as Veritas Capital, AE Industrial Partners, Arlington Capital, and NewSpring Capital all completed acquisitions in the government services sector in Q3 2018.
About The McLean Group
The McLean Group is an employee-owned investment bank that provides objective strategic and financial advice on mergers and acquisitions and business valuations. The firm's ADG team is one of the largest dedicated groups in the country and has deep transactional expertise in nearly every segment of the government market. Continuing its track record as a leading advisor to middle market companies in the ADG industry, The McLean Group has closed 77 transactions since 2010. The firm's transaction advisory and valuation services reflect comprehensive industry knowledge, extensive transactional successes, commitment to providing senior-level attention to every client engagement, and real-time understanding of industry-specific valuation drivers.
