Booz Allen to acquire Ultra defense tech unit for $720M
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By
Ross Wilkers
Booz Allen is pushing to ramp up its tech product integration efforts and increase the number of commercially-available offerings.
Booz Allen Hamilton has agreed to acquire a business unit of Ultra Intelligence & Communications for $720 million to further build out a defense technology portfolio with artificial intelligence being a key piece.
Ultra Mission Solutions specializes in software, encryption and edge-compute products that are designed for use in contested and other environments where connections are likely degraded. Command-and-control and secure data movement also are key areas of focus for Ultra Mission Solutions.
All parties involved expect to close the transaction in the second quarter of Booz Allen’s 2027 fiscal year, which started on April 1. Ultra Mission Solutions employs 220 people and will initially operate as a subsidiary of Booz Allen, the companies said Monday.
“We are investing in reliable, scalable solutions that help unite the defense technology ecosystem. This combination provides a foundation for our continued investment to harness advantage from commercial technology innovation,” Steve Escaravage, president of Booz Allen’s defense technology business, said in a release.
Booz Allen is eyeing this move as part of its push to ramp up product integration efforts and increase the number of commercially-available offerings through outcome-based procurements, Foreign Military Sales pacts and other channels.
Booz Allen retained Jefferies LLC as exclusive financial adviser, PwC as accounting and tax advisor, King & Spalding LLP as legal adviser, and Renaissance Strategic Advisors as strategic industry adviser. Ultra Mission Solutions and Advent retained Baird as exclusive financial adviser, KPMG as accounting and tax adviser, and Latham & Watkins LLP as legal adviser.
Ultra I&C is a division of the U.K.-headquartered Cobham, which has been owned by the private investment firm Advent International since 2019.
The bulk of Booz Allen’s current strategy and vision centers around software-centric technologies that can be quickly developed and fielded more in-line with how commercial markets functions.
In the summer of 2024, Booz Allen purchased the PAR Government Systems business to incorporate that unit’s rapid prototyping facilities into the overall tech development approach.