Executive Spotlight: John Vollmer, CEO of Amentum, Discusses DynCorp Acquisition

John Vollmer, chief executive officer with Amentum, and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, spoke with ExecutiveBiz regarding the company’s recent announcement of its planned acquisition of DynCorp. He addressed how the purchase would expand the combined company’s offerings, the expansive culture and the new markets that will come into play after they complete integration.

“I really focus on the culture of the two companies, the employees and our combined core values. At the end of the day, that’s how we will make sure that this integration is successful, and this combined company truly becomes a leader in the industry.”

ExecutiveBiz: When did Amentum and DynCorp agree to this deal?

“When we became Amentum, we began that discussion with Dyncorp. We understand the business, and for the past eight months, Amenutm has performed wildly past expectations. We’ve had a really good year. We’re seeing an increased demand on acquisitions.

We looked at the combination of DynCorp and Amentum, which provides an incredible acceleration in key markets, as a merged organization. It puts us in leading positions because the pipeline of opportunities is never ending.

As Amentum, we had to prove to the market and to our new owners, that we could execute and grow the business, as well as perform beyond expectations. We’ve been able to do that in fiscal year 20. It makes it a lot easier to execute deals when you’re performing very well.”

ExecutiveBiz: How will Amentum’s capabilities expand with the acquisition of DynCorp? How will that enhance market access for the federal sector?

“Amentum and DynCorp have very common skill sets, core capabilities and culture, which makes us a good fit. Amazingly, our businesses and our clients are very complimentary. We didn’t clash and bid against each other. DynCorp has leading market positions and we have leading market positions, but they’re not the same.

For example, DynCorp is the absolute leader in Army aviation and mission command for aviation field maintenance. While we are in that business, they are the best. We are the best in Army sustainment command and ground maintenance. Now we can provide our defense clients a wider range of options, in terms of supporting their forces worldwide.

DynCorp is also a key incumbent on Department of State work as well, which has been a major target for Amentum. We haven’t really been able to break into that market where to show the State Department our capabilities. This acquisition opens that market up in a big way.

We are already a market leader in open air test and training range services for both the Air Force and the Navy, so the combined organization is now truly a market leader in four major areas of business that represent multibillion dollar opportunities. That is really exciting.”

ExecutiveBiz: What are some of the initiatives Amentum will pursue in new markets once the acquisition is complete?

“Some of the primary markets that both companies plan to emerge in are asset management, critical infrastructure and supply chain management. That is a market for the federal marketplace, not just the Department of Defense (DoD), but also the Department of Energy (DoE) and other federal agencies as well.

That market is really expanding and has been a target of Amentum for quite some time. DynCorp has great positions in logistics, which represents approximately 40 percent of their business. Their logistics capabilities will jumpstart a major strategic push for Amentum to become a leader in critical infrastructure and asset management for the federal workplace sector.

The markets that we play in are so vast that this acquisition is going to make us a leader in the sector. It will also enable us to go after some of the biggest opportunities that are mostly within the DoD.

There’s been a great demand for acquisitions for M&A activity since March. I don’t think this is the last you’re going to see for Amentum, nor our competitors in the field. We’re going to work very hard to integrate DynCorp, so that we can provide critical mission support services to our clients and continue to deliver outstanding performance. I see certain consolidations continuing.”

ExecutiveBiz: What value will this acquisition bring to your combined customers and employees?

“The combined organization will give us a much broader reach into the market to bid. It will be more expansive in the sheer quantity of opportunities that will open up growth for our employees, which will be twofold.

First, it will expand the general throughput of business and our ability to address a wider market and larger deals. The second is geographical. We have a nice match of cultures, which will make the integration easier.

From our client standpoint, we bring a broader set of core mission capabilities, without question. When we support our clients, they have access to the entire company. Our clients now have access to all 34,000 employees and the entire combination of DynCorp and Amentum.

That’s a big deal to our clients who are working in missions that are of national significance. Failure is not an option. They want to know that they have access to whatever we have to offer, and we have a lot more to offer as a combined organization than we just did as Amentum.”

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