CACI International [CACI] this month acquired Ascent Vision Technologies (AVT), which develops and produces counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) and imaging systems for military customers.
CACI paid $350 million for AVT, a deal that includes an expected $40 million net tax asset that brings the enterprise value of the transaction down to $310 million. CACI expects the new business to bring in about $50 million in sales during the next 10-plus months remaining in its fiscal year 2021.
AVT, which is based in Montana, provides its eXpeditionary Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (X-MADIS) and L-MADIS CUAS solutions to the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps. CACI already has CUAS solutions based on its CORIAN and SkyTracker platforms.
CACI’s legacy CUAS business generates close to $200 million in sales across the federal government, John Mengucci, president and CEO of CACI, said on the company’s earnings call following the acquisition. Later, in an interview with HSR sister publication Defense Daily, he said roughly $100 million of this revenue comes from the intelligence community, about $75 million from the Defense Department and roughly $25 million from non-DoD and non-intelligence community customers.
In June, the Army-led Joint Counter Small UAS Office selected eight systems to be used by DoD for drone security and defeat. CACI’s CORIAN system was one of three fixed-site systems selected and AVT’s mobile/mounted Light-Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (L-MADIS) was also selected.
Mengucci said he expects sales of CUAS systems to grow from here. The SkyTracker CUAS system is geared for deploying in the U.S. because it is adapted for operating within tighter radio frequency requirements for domestic applications, he said.
AVT also has capabilities and products in low size, weight, power and cost for electro-optical, infrared (EO/IR) imaging systems used in airborne, ground and maritime platforms. The technology is used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition for day and night operations.
About two-thirds of AVT’s sales are from its EO/IR imaging products and the rest from its counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS), Mengucci said in the interview.
In June, AVT said it had received a contract from Thailand’s Defence Technology Institute to provide the X-MADIS to protest critical assets from small UAS.
AVT says that dozens of X-MADIS systems are deployed and operating worldwide.
On the earnings call, Mengucci said that CACI will combine its expertise in signals intelligence and radio frequency technologies, which are resident in its CUAS systems, with AVT’s EO/IR capabilities for fixed and mobile CUAS platforms and elsewhere.
AVT is based in Montana and has 73 employees, including 30 in Australia. AVT’s senior management will continue to lead the unit.
AVT’s financial advisor on the deal was Jefferies LLC.