Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] on Friday said it has agreed to acquire Fulcrum IT Services in a deal that will strengthen and expand its capabilities in several key areas and broaden its customer relationships, particularly with the intelligence and special operations communities.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. HII expects to close the acquisition in February of Northern Virginia-based Fulcrum.
Fulcrum IT Services has various capabilities in C5ISR, providing expertise to the intelligence community and Defense Department globally. Image: Fulcrum IT
Fulcrum will be part of HII's nearly $1 billion Technical Solutions segment, led by President Andy Green, which stood up just over two years ago with the $380 million acquisition of government services provider Camber Corp. and the consolidation of several other business units involved in energy, environmental and fleet support services. In December, HII acquired the cyber security firm G2 Inc., which is also part of Technical Solutions.
Fulcrum's strengths are in cyber security, C5ISR, intelligence and information operations, software development and data analytics. The company has about 400 employees, with several hundred holding security clearances, although the exact number wasn't disclosed.
HII is getting an "educated, cleared and experience workforce," Green told Defense Daily in a telephone interview on Friday. He said the pending deal "strengthens and broadens our capability set," highlighting cyber security, enterprise software development, and big data analytics as examples.
Green said that Technical Solutions already has capabilities in intelligence operations and supporting special operations, artificial intelligence, robotics and sensor development but that Fulcrum will boost its expertise in all these areas.
Green said his division is focused on developing long-term customer relationships and strengthening core capabilities in growth areas to stay competitive. The company plans to remain selective in its approach to mergers and acquisitions, targeting companies that can add to its growth, earnings and cash flow, and create shareholder value, he said.
HII is best known as a shipbuilder for the Navy and Coast Guard but over the past five or six year it has also been growing its services business.
Cyber security, work for the intelligence community, C5ISR, and advanced engineering all fit the kinds of capabilities Technical Solutions is after to strengthen its core, Green said, without being specific about future acquisition plans.
Houlihan Lokey served as Fulcrum's financial adviser on the deal. HII didn't use a financial adviser.