INDUSTRY NEWS

Serco, a provider of professional, technology, and management services, will be acquiring Alion Science & Technology Corporation’s Naval Systems Business Unit, including its Canadian business and a small number of related contract operations, for $225 million. The acquisition, subject to certain regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second half of 2019.

In addition to substantially increasing its Canadian defense business, adding the Royal Canadian Navy as a new customer, and adding a new location (Vancouver Shipyards), this acquisition will substantially strengthen Serco’s presence in naval support, modernization and sustainment, which has been a key growth area for the company in recent years.

Vince Stammetti, SVP of Alion’s Naval Systems Business Unit, is expected to serve as Senior VP of the new Serco business unit. “Having supported nearly every major U.S. Navy ship design program for the past 40 years, we are very optimistic about the opportunities for growth as the U.S. Navy executes its 30-year shipbuilding plan to achieve a 355-ship fleet. Together with Serco, I feel confident that we will be able to successfully pursue even larger opportunities and deliver greater value to our customers,” Stammetti said.

Serco is currently one of the leading providers of shipboard, shore and systems installation and upgrade services to the U.S. Navy. NSBU is a leading provider of naval ship and submarine design, systems and engineering services, production support and in-service sustainment, with annual revenues of $336 million and around 1,000 employees based at essential Naval facilities around the U.S., Canada and internationally. Serco’s C5ISR business unit and NSBU are extremely complementary.  NSBU will retain its existing management team and staff and operate as a new Serco business unit.
 
NSBU focuses on integrated ship and systems design, including naval architecture, and marine, structural and systems engineering, and provides life-cycle naval fleet support and weapon platform services including program management, production support, fleet readiness and operational sustainment. Key customers include the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and affiliated Program Executive Offices (PEOs), NAVSEA Surface and Subsurface Warfare Centers as well as support for U.S. Army watercraft, U.S. Office of Naval Research, the U.S. Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy, research agencies, and some international navies. NSBU is qualified under the U.S. Government’s foreign military sales program to provide shipboard engineering services to a range of allied services and is also supporting next-generation naval platforms including Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), which are expected to be areas of increasing investment by the Navy.
 
“Combining our existing C5ISR capabilities in ship, shore, satellite and radar modernization with the naval design and engineering capabilities of NSBU will make Serco a top-tier Navy services provider with a full-spectrum, design-integrate-support life cycle maritime offering,” said Dave Dacquino, Chairman and CEO of Serco Inc. “Like Serco, the NSBU team is distinguished by a hardware-agnostic, agile engineering approach that delivers strong value to customers and allows us to help our forces modernize and extend the service life of critical naval assets. NSBU has an excellent industry reputation and is known for innovative design approaches that address the real-world priorities of the 21st century fleet. This is a growth-oriented strategic acquisition that brings Serco highly valued technical talent and we look forward to the new opportunities this transaction will create across both organizations.”
 
Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, Serco Inc. has approximately 6,000 employees and annual revenue of $1 billion. Serco Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Serco Group plc, a $4 billion international business that helps transform government and public services around the world. More information about Serco Inc. can be found at www.serco.com/na.
 
Based just outside of Washington, DC, Alion Science and Technology Corporation delivers engineering solutions across six core capability areas including: C5 systems, ISR solutions, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Defense/Offense operations, Electronic Warfare technology, and Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) training solutions. To learn more, visit www.alionscience.com.