Charles Lyons-Burt
ManTech has initiated an all-cash deal to be purchased by investment firm Carlyle for approximately $4.2 billion in total enterprise value.
The national security technology services provider said Monday that the acquisition, in which shareholders will receive $96.00 per share in cash, is estimated to close in the second half of the calendar year 2022.
Kevin Phillips, chairman, president and CEO of ManTech, called the agreement an important milestone and said that executive leadership reviewed all options and alternatives before deciding the transaction will result in the biggest net gain for shareholders, “offering liquidity at a significant premium.”
Phillips, who is a six-time Wash100 Award winner, added that the buy will empower the company to “deliver stronger outcomes for our customers and increased opportunities for our employees.”
The acquisition is still awaiting and subject to shareholder approval. ManTech’s board of directors unanimously voted in favor of the agreement and recommended that the company’s shareholders follow suit. Stockholders, who possess 49.2 percent of current ManTech shares, have noted their intention to uphold the transaction.
With the stated per share price of $96.00, Carlyle is offering a 32 percent premium of the uninhibited closing share price of $72.82 on the last trading day in February before reports were made public of a potential strategic operation. It is a 17 percent premium to the more recent closing stock price of $81.97 on Friday.
Financial aspects of the deal were led by Goldman Sachs & Co. for ManTech and Baird for Carlyle. Legal counsel was provided by King & Spalding for ManTech and Latham & Watkins for Carlyle.
According to Dayne Baird, managing director for the aerospace and government services division at Carlyle, the investment firm admires ManTech’s over five decades of support to critical national security missions.
“Through this partnership, we look forward to leveraging our sector expertise and resources to accelerate growth and innovation,” Baird continued.
Carlyle’s deal with ManTech follows a pair of notable acquisitions on ManTech’s part in recent months that contributed to the company’s portfolio. In January, ManTech bought Technical and Management Assistance Corp., a system and software engineering and information technology company and in late December, the company closed its $350 acquisition of digital and systems engineering business Gryphon Technologies.
