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Firefly Aerospace on Sunday said it had agreed to buy defense analytics firm SciTec for about $855 million in cash and stock, paving the path to its goal of becoming a significant player in the national security market.<\/p>\n
Firefly will pay around $300 million in cash and $555 million in new shares, and the deal is expected to close by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n
Princeton-based SciTec sells missile-warning and tracking systems, space domain awareness tools, and analytics to defense and intelligence customers. Earlier this year, Space Force awarded the company a $259 million contract to develop a ground system for missile-detection satellites.\u00a0The company reported annual revenue of $164 million as of the end of June.<\/p>\n
The acquisition comes nearly two months after Firefly\u2019s IPO, which valued it at nearly $10 billion. The deal is part of the company\u2019s efforts to reposition itself as a vertically integrated defense contractor from being a launch-and-spacecraft manufacturer. <\/p>\n
Bringing SciTec in-house will no doubt prove helpful, especially as the Pentagon seeks more commercial partners for missile tracking and early-warning systems, including for its \u201cGolden Dome\u201d missile-defense program.<\/p>\n
Once the deal closes, SciTec will operate as a subsidiary of Firefly, and will be led by its current CEO, Jim Lisowski. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n