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On July 6, Arlington Capital Partners announced that its portfolio company, BlueHalo, a provider of advanced engineering solutions and technology to the national security community, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Design & Development Engineering Services Corporation (“DDES”).
DDES, based in Albuquerque, NM, designs and manufactures space-qualified electronic systems for exquisite, Class-A spacecraft serving the most demanding missions in austere environments across military and national security applications. DDES has decades of experience and critical expertise developing radiation-hardened, space-qualified systems and has developed a reputation of excellence across their customer set who depend on DDES’ high-reliability, high-performance systems.
BlueHalo is a rapidly expanding national security platform with capabilities spanning space superiority, directed energy, missile defense, C4ISR, cyber, and intelligence. The acquisition of DDES will add to BlueHalo’s existing capabilities in space-qualified hardware, laser communications systems, and directed energy, solidifying the Company as a market leader in high-end space systems positioned to address both exquisite and emerging “new space” requirements. With over 250 systems flown on orbit at the combined company, DDES’ technical expertise and impeccable track record will add to BlueHalo’s reputation as a highly differentiated, trusted producer of space-qualified systems for the most demanding missions.
“DDES has established itself as a leader in developing space-qualified hardware and we are incredibly excited to partner with the DDES management team as we expand our space manufacturing capabilities and continue to provide unique, world-class solutions for our customers,” said Jonathan Moneymaker, CEO of BlueHalo. “The alignment of culture between BlueHalo and DDES of inspired engineering of complex solutions will continue to attract the nation’s top talent as we remain focused on missions critical to national security. BlueHalo is leading the transformation of modern warfare and the acquisition of DDES is an important addition to BlueHalo as we continue to grow organically into new mission areas.”
Steve Kephart, Glenn Lommasson, Tim Canales and Rick Ranger, co-founders of DDES, said, “BlueHalo presents a focused, modern, energetic and expanding organization engaged in the ultra-demanding space and defense sector. As we considered what the next chapter of the company would look like and how to capitalize on the growing demand signal, the partnership with BlueHalo provided immediate opportunity for accelerated growth in terms of capability and capacity. DDES complements BlueHalo’s existing capabilities with unique and proven development and manufacturing expertise, and we are eager to join BlueHalo to take on a larger scope of challenges.”
David Wodlinger, a partner at Arlington Capital Partners, said “the acquisition of DDES will build upon BlueHalo’s exceptional space capabilities and further expand the Company’s presence in Albuquerque, one of BlueHalo’s core locations and a great community in which we are looking to invest further. BlueHalo continues to make significant investments in engineering talent and specialized facilities in order to better serve important missions in space, and we are delighted to have DDES join the team.”
Henry Albers, a vice president at Arlington Capital Partners, said “DDES’ strong customer relationships and deep technical expertise make the company an excellent addition to the BlueHalo platform. With access to BlueHalo’s infrastructure and resources, DDES will have additional scale to better meet the accelerating demand for its high reliability space systems.”
Source: Arlington Capital
