HERNDON, Va. & CHICAGO & MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Madison Dearborn Partners and CoVant announced today that they have agreed to buy LGS Innovations LLC, a leading provider of groundbreaking research and advanced networking and communications solutions to the U.S. federal government, from Alcatel-Lucent. Closure of the transaction is anticipated to take place in the first quarter of 2014, following the completion of regulatory approvals and consultations with the U.S. Government.
LGS Innovations was formed during the Alcatel and Lucent merger in 2006 as an independent subsidiary and sole channel to the U.S. Federal Government in response to Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) requirements. With a heritage extending back over 60 years, LGS Innovations supports its customers with secure communications and networking solutions as well as advanced research and development in photonics, remote sensing, microtechnology and cybersecurity.
“This transaction will better enable us to serve our customers in the civilian, defense, and advanced programs communities by doing what we do best – researching, developing, and deploying secure networking and communications solutions,” said Kevin Kelly, CEO, LGS Innovations. “We are also excited that with new ownership comes an opportunity to apply our cutting-edge research to a new set of challenges.”
LGS Innovations employs nearly 700 people and is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with major facilities in Florham Park, New Jersey, Westminster, Colorado, High Point, North Carolina, and Lisle, Illinois. All employees, management, and business structures will transition to the new ownership team at closing to ensure seamless continuity with customers and other stakeholders.
The sale to a U.S.-based company owned by the Madison Dearborn/CoVant investor group will allow LGS Innovations to address markets and customers that previously were difficult to pursue under the company’s and its current parent’s security agreements with the U.S. Government. In addition, LGS Innovations will now be able to take Alcatel-Lucent’s products and services to a broader market to include the U.S. state and local government markets, the public safety and first responder community, foreign governments, and commercial enterprises.
Madison Dearborn, based in Chicago, is a leading private equity firm that invests across a broad spectrum of industries, including business and government services, while CoVant is a holding company focused on acquiring and growing companies in the federal technology solutions marketplace. CoVant, based in McLean, Virginia, was created by former executives of Anteon International, a private-equity backed government technology services company that was sold to General Dynamics Corp. in 2006 for $2.2 billion.
“LGS Innovations is a highly attractive business and we’re pleased to have the opportunity to enable the company to realize its full potential,” said Doug Grissom, a Managing Director at Madison Dearborn and the head of the firm’s Business and Government Services team. “Integral to our success will be LGS Innovations’s unmatched R&D capabilities, meaningful intellectual property and differentiated offering. We look forward to partnering with the management team and CoVant to support and advance these elements of the business to the benefit of LGS Innovations’s customers and employees.”
“With its impressive track record and some of the brightest minds in our industry, LGS Innovations is competitively positioned,” said Joseph Kampf, CEO of CoVant, and the former CEO of Anteon International and current board director of A-T Solutions. “We are excited to support the leadership team and employees with our experience and expertise in the Federal Government market.”
LGS Innovations will remain the exclusive reseller of Alcatel-Lucent products and services to the U.S. Federal Government. The company will also have exclusivity in sales to the integration and reseller community where the end customer is the Federal Government.
About LGS Innovations
LGS Innovations™ LLC solves the most complex networking and communications challenges facing the U.S. Federal Government. LGS Innovations delivers groundbreaking research and advanced networking and communications solutions that provide an information advantage and contribute to the mission success of its customers. Solutions include Infrastructure & Installation; Video Teleconferencing and IPTV Solutions; Public Safety and Emergency Communications, Tactical Communications; Wireless/Mobility; 4G/LTE; Cloud Solutions; Enterprise, Optical and Data Networking; Network Integration; and Research and Development in Advanced Multimedia/RF, Cybersecurity, sensing technologies, and Photonics.
LGS Innovations is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with offices in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and North Carolina. To learn more about LGS Innovations, visit http://www.lgsinnovations.com, read the latest posts on the LGS Innovations blog at http://www.lgsinnovations.com/blog, and follow the Company on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lgsinnovations. LGS Innovations: The Network Experts™.
About Madison Dearborn Partners
Madison Dearborn Partners, based in Chicago, is a leading private equity investment firm in the United States. Since Madison Dearborn's formation in 1992, the firm has raised six funds with aggregate capital of over $18 billion and has completed approximately 125 investments. Madison Dearborn invests in businesses across a broad spectrum of industries, including business and government services; basic industries; consumer; financial and transaction services; health care; and telecom, media and technology services. Its noteworthy investments include Asurion, CDW, Fieldglass, MetroPCS, Nuveen Investments, TransUnion, and Yankee Candle. For more information, please visit www.mdcp.com.
About CoVant
Founded by former executives of Anteon International, CoVant invests in and provides strategic, financial and operational resources to a portfolio of companies specializing in technology and related solutions that serve the needs of government customers. With an experienced team of business executives and a respected board of former government and military leaders, CoVant delivers a unique and highly strategic approach to maximizing company growth and value. Visit www.covant.com for more information.