Janes Capital Partners | Case Studies

World-Class Military R&D Company Focused on the Design, Engineering, and Manufacturing of Advanced Composites for Manned and Unmanned Aircraft

Written by Stephen Perry | Nov 21, 2023

Janes Capital Partners served as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Scaled Composites in its sale to Northrop Grumman Corporation. Founded by Burt Rutan in 1982, Scaled Composites is a world-class military research and development company with extensive experience in the design, engineering, processing and manufacturing of complex, advanced composites for defense, space and industrial applications. The Company has renowned design expertise in manned and unmanned aircraft design, with more than 25 proprietary designs.

THE CHALLENGE

Featured in over 65 leading magazine cover stories, Scaled Composites was acknowledged for creating many ground breaking and award winning programs including: the first privately funded human space flight and reusable spacecraft with SpaceShipOne, the largest nonstop unrefueled flight with GlobalFlyer and the record holder for highest altitude with Proteus. In 2006 Scaled Composites was awarded another key program, SpaceShipTwo, which will be three times the size of its predecessor, SpaceShipOne.

Several of the most attractive attributes of this exceptional business created unique deal challenges. The company had extensive engineering capabilities which were frequently used to develop advanced programs. Such contracts and products required applicable security clearances thereby limiting access to data. This dynamic also created intense confidentiality concerns with regard to customers and employees. And, while the broad business mix was appealing to buyers, it required broad diligence spanning numerous advanced defense programs as well as space tourism.

 

THE SOLUTION

Janes Capital Partners worked tirelessly with the shareholders and management to fully diligence and generate a customized strategy for marketing the business. After developing a detailed positioning strategy that effectively addressed differing stakeholder objectives and proactively ensuring a framework was in place to address any unexpected issues, our professionals approached the leading global OEMs and private equity groups.
 

THE RESULTS

Janes Capital Partners’ customized strategy helped maintain confidentiality throughout the multiple iterations that this process required. With our senior bankers heavily involved in every step of the process, the company overcame the potential deal-breaking effect of a tragic accident that occurred between signing and closing and obtained a very attractive valuation for the shareholders.