Arcfield enters the seas via acquisition
An aerial view of the Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island, which Rite-Solutions' headquarters in Middletown are close to. U.S. Navy photo by Elizabeth M. Baker
By
Ross Wilkers
This is purchase number three for Arcfield since its formation in 2021 and with the backing of Veritas Capital's fund for the middle tier.
Arcfield, a systems engineering and mission support services provider known for its space business, has acquired a company that specializes in technology solutions and other offerings for the maritime domain.
Rite-Solutions opened for business in 2000 to focus on software development, systems engineering, information technology and cybersecurity programs for the Navy. Rite-Solutions’ headquarters in Middletown, Rhode Island are in proximity to Naval Station Newport, which houses the Naval Undersea Warfare Center.
Through this transaction announced Tuesday, Arcfield is looking to compliment its nuclear surety and missile engineering services with similar work Rite-Solutions does for undersea warfare and naval systems. Financial terms of the move were not disclosed.
Arcfield is owned by Veritas Capital through its Vantage Fund, which the private equity firm stood up in 2021 and subsequently used to carve out the business from then-parent Peraton. The Vantage Fund is geared toward midsized companies in the government market.
With that backing, Arcfield made a pair of acquisitions in 2023 to further build out its model-based systems engineering portfolio and space domain footprints.
"As a defense-technology hybrid company, we have been intensely focused from day one on providing our mission partners with a technological edge," Arcfield’s chief executive Kevin Kelly said in a release. "We are building an organization uniquely positioned to deliver exceptional national security support spanning every domain — from the depths of the ocean floor to the edges of space — and the acquisition of Rite-Solutions gets us there.”
Navy work makes up for all of Rite-Solutions’ roughly $82.7 million in unclassified prime contract revenue over the trailing 12 months, according to USASpending.gov figures.
Latham & Watkins LLP and Crowell & Moring LLP acted as counsel to Arcfield. Rite-Solutions was advised by The McLean Group, while the sell-side legal advisers were Fluet and Dentons Durham Jones Pinegar P.C.