Britain’s QinetiQ Group plc on Monday said it has agreed to acquire Air Affairs Australia Pty Ltd., an Australian based defense services company, and also has reached a deal to sell its Belgium-based commercial space business to Redwire Corp. [RDW], building its presence in Europe.
Both deals are expected to close within the next six weeks.
The pending acquisition of Air Affairs for about $35 million aligns with the company’s strategy of deploying capital in its three home countries: the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia.
QinetiQ said Air Affairs will accelerate its growth in Australia and grow its test and evaluation and threat representation capabilities globally.
Air Affairs, which has about 180 employees and does business in air threat representation, owns and operates a fleet of special mission series Learjet and King Air aircraft, manufactures and provides aerial towed targets and subsystems, manufactures and operates target drone systems, and provides engineering services. The Australian Defense Forces are a key customer.
Air Affairs had about $28 million in sales for the 12 months ended June 30.
Redwire is acquiring Space NV for nearly $32 million. The business had sales of about $48 million for the year ended March 31 and is primary customer is the European Space Agency. Space NV’s backlog was $111 million at the end of March.
Space NV provides design and integration of small commercial satellites, docking and berthing systems, and instruments for end-to-end space missions.
“Space NV is expected to provide Redwire with increased scale, broader access to addressable markets and significant backlog to bolster our growth platform,” Peter Cannito, chairman and CEO of Redwire, said in a statement.
QinetiQ said that Space NV’s products “have limited operational synergies and alignment with our global ambition,” although the space domain remains a key part of its defense and security strategy.