Ares In $315M LBO For Defense Firm

Global Defense Technology & Systems Inc. said it agreed to be acquired by Los Angeles buyout shop Ares Management LLC in a $222 million cash deal that would take the defense intelligence company private, according to Buyouts sister news service Reuters.

The cash tender offer of $24.25 per share represents a premium of 51 percent over GTEC’s closing price on the day before the deal was announced. Including corporate debt, the deal is valued at $315 million, GTEC said.

Last year many mid-tier security and defense companies were snapped up by companies looking to cash in on the demand for niche technologies in cybersecurity, civil security, surveillance and intelligence.

Early this year, sources told Reuters that defense supplier Integral Systems Inc. had hired advisers to review strategic alternatives, including a potential sale.

Damian Perl, the founder and chief executive of Global Strategies Group, the largest beneficial shareholder in GTEC with about 42 percent of shares, entered into a tender and voting agreement in support of the offer, GTEC said.

McLean, Va.-based GTEC provides technologies that support counter-terrorism and security intelligence, targeted at the Department of Defense. The company had said in January it sees growth in its technology and intelligence service and more orders in the force mobility and modernization systems units.

GTEC shares have gained more than half of their value in the last six months.

Bijoy Koyitty is a Reuters correspondent in Bangalore.