Artemis Capital Partners has closed the sale of Adcole Maryland Aerospace to AE Industrial Partners.
Adcole Maryland Aerospace (AMA) is a manufacturer of guidance, navigation, and control components used in low-earth orbit and geosynchronous satellites, and interplanetary spacecraft. The company’s key products include sun sensors (a navigational instrument used by satellites and spacecraft to detect the position of the sun); and star trackers and cameras (used to determine the orientation of a satellite and spacecraft with respect to the stars).
AMA’s components have been used on numerous space missions including voyages to Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, and its customers include the Department of Defense as well as other government agencies, and private companies in the aerospace and defense sectors. AMA, led by General Manager Don Wesson Jr., was founded in 1957 and is headquartered 30 miles west of Boston in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Artemis acquired Adcole in May 2014 and in April 2017 spun out the company’s aerospace division and merged it with Maryland Aerospace to form Adcole Maryland.
“We’re very proud of what we have accomplished in partnership with the talented AMA team,” said Peter Hunter, the founder and managing partner of Artemis. “As a result of the company’s industry-recognized commitment to innovation and quality, AMA is uniquely well-positioned to meet the growing demand for high reliability, mission-critical satellite components and subsystems.”
Artemis Capital Partners invests in companies with revenues of $5 million to $50 million and EBITDA of $1 million to $10 million. Sectors of interest include manufacturers of differentiated industrial technologies, including aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, industrial automation, scientific and research, and medical sectors. The firm was founded in 2010 and is based in Boston.
“We have been impressed by AMA’s tenure, reputation, and respected flight heritage in the space industry, and we are excited to partner with a truly premier supplier of mission-critical technologies,” said Kirk Konert, a partner at AE Industrial Partners. “AMA represents the first company for our space technology platform, which will serve the growing demand from both the U.S. Government and the commercial market for space and satellite vehicles.”
Boca Raton-based AE Industrial Partners invests in the aerospace and defense, power generation, and specialty industrial sectors with a specific focus on technical manufacturing; distribution and supply chain management; maintenance, repair and overhaul; and industrial service-based businesses. Typical company targets will have from $50 million to $500 million of revenue. In July 2018, the firm held a final hard-cap closing of its second private equity fund, AE Industrial Partners Fund II LP, with $1.36 billion in commitments.
Mesirow Financial was the financial advisor to Artemis Capital Partners on this transaction.
Private Equity Professional | May 1, 2020
