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On October 4, Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington, DC-area private equity firm, announced the completion of its acquisition of L3Harris Technologies’ Electron Devices and Narda Microwave-West divisions. The company will now operate independently as Stellant Systems, a standalone platform for Arlington in the mission-critical defense electronics market. The transaction is occurring in partnership with current business unit leadership.
The company is a market-leading provider of RF amplification products for the space, electronic warfare, radar, medical, scientific and industrial end markets. With a multi-generational legacy supporting the most important military and intelligence programs, as well as addressing some of the most complicated technical requirements in commercial markets, the company designs and assembles traveling wave tubes (“TWTs”), nano microwave power modules (“MPMs”) and other related subsystems and is the only domestic provider of space-qualified TWTs. The company has over 800 employees across its three facilities in Torrance, CA, Williamsport, PA and Folsom, CA.
Paul Russell will lead Stellant Systems as CEO. In the past, he has held several leadership positions at L3Harris, Northrop Grumman and Maxar. He is joined by John Hahn and Nick Gritti who will serve as chief financial officer and executive vice president of strategy and business development, respectively, both of whom are executives within the Electron Devices division today.
“Stellant Systems represents a new beginning for a company with a rich history – from Howard Hughes, Charlie Litton and other industry giants – to today’s innovators across all three campuses,” said Russell. “Furthermore, Arlington brings deep experience investing in the most sensitive areas of the national security end market and brings an M&A and enterprise-building expertise that will support Stellant’s growth on a standalone basis. I am thrilled to be leading the organization and to be a part of the Arlington portfolio. Our groundbreaking Space Nano-MPM product line, High Power Microwave products for force protection and base defense, and critical cancer radiotherapy treatment products, to name a few, illustrate Stellant Systems’ ability to deliver frequency and power agile products to meet unique mission needs in the space, spectrum dominance, secure communications and medical markets.”
Peter Manos, a managing partner at Arlington, said, “Stellant is our latest platform enterprise in the space and defense markets and continues our tradition of investing behind industry leaders. Stellant is well-positioned now as a standalone entity for continued growth which we would seek to accelerate through further organic and inorganic investments into the company. We are pleased to have completed this transaction in partnership with Paul and his team and are excited to build a leader in the defense electronics market.”
Ben Ramundo, a vice president at Arlington, said, “Stellant is an extremely unique asset within the defense electronics ecosystem. Stellant’s heritage, facilities, capabilities and credentials are unmatched, and we are eager to invest behind those qualifications to unlock the myriad of market opportunities available to the company.”
Source: Arlington Capital
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