Arlington Capital Partners has closed its buy of the Defense & Security business of publicly-traded iRobot Corporation for $45 million in total consideration which includes an undisclosed post-closing contingent payment based on the achievement of certain operating milestones. The acquisition was first announced back in February 2016. Endeavor Robotics was formed by Arlington as a new platform portfolio company to acquire the business.
With the closing, Endeavor is now the largest provider of ground-based robots to the US Department of Defense and has a growing presence in the security, industrial and international defense markets. Endeavor sells four-classes of robots – FirstLook, SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle), PackBot and Kobra. Each robot class provides different capabilities and operates in different environments. Since inception, more than 6,000 of these robots have been delivered to customers worldwide. Endeavor Robotics is based northwest of Boston in Bedford, MA (www.endeavorrobotics.com).
Sean Bielat is the new CEO of Endeavor and Tom Frost, the former general manager of iRobot’s Defense & Security business, is the new President. Mr. Bielat worked at iRobot as Program Manager and Director of Business Development from June 2006 to November 2009. “I am thrilled to be rejoining such an amazing organization,” said Mr. Bielat. “As an independent company, we will be focused on our own goals and objectives and pursue the numerous opportunities that lie ahead of us.”
Arlington Capital Partners has $1.5 billion of committed capital and invests in buyouts and recapitalizations of companies valued from $50 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include government services and technology; aerospace & defense; healthcare; and business services & software. Arlington Capital is based in Chevy Chase, MD (www.arlingtoncap.com).
In addition to the Defense & Security business, iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) designs and sells consumer robots including Roomba, an autonomous home vacuum cleaner; Scooba, a scrubber and cleaner of hard floors; and other consumer tasked robots. The company has approximately $500 million in annual revenue and is headquartered in Bedford, MA (www.irobot.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-5-16
