Photo: Applied Aerospace and Defense
Two aerospace suppliers, Applied Aerospace and PCX Aerosystems, are merging to create greater scale as a supplier of precision hardware and systems for aircraft, rotorcraft, satellites, launch vehicles, and missile defense.
Both companies are privately held by Greenbriar Equity Group and will now operate as a combined company known as Applied Aerospace & Defense. The merger took place in late November and was announced Dec. 3; financial terms were not disclosed.
“There’s been tremendous growth in the overall aerospace industry in next-generation aircraft, commercial spacecraft, and launch vehicles, and a lot of focus on missile defense. One of the things we hear from our customers is there are not enough companies in the aerospace industrial base with proven heritage and scale to support these new programs of record — so the decision was made to bring two companies together,” David Myers, chief strategy officer of Applied Aerospace, told Via Satellite.
The combined company has more than $500 million in annual revenue and has been on a double-digit growth trajectory over the past several years, Myers said, pointing to growth in commercial spacecraft and military aircraft markets and growth potential in new defense systems.
The two companies have complementary capabilities, he said. Applied Aerospace does composite, metallic, and polymer manufacturing — building launch vehicle nose cones, satellite buses, payload dispensers, aircraft fuselage, and radomes and antennas for ISR platforms. Its customers include L3Harris, Sierra Space, Northrop Grumman, Blue Origin, NASA, and others.
PCX Aerosystems has expertise in advanced metal machining for aircraft, spacecraft, sub-surface maritime, and missiles including helicopter dynamic systems, propellant tanks for satellites, and maritime propulsion components.
Together, the company has more than 1,300 employees and production and integration facilities across nine locations in five states. Trip Ferguson, formerly of BlueHalo and then AeroVironment, has been appointed CEO to lead the company.
The combined company will offer more complete solutions to the space industry, Myers said.
“At Applied Aerospace we have been building payload fairings and landing legs and satellite buses. PCX Aerosystems builds pressurized propellant tanks and nozzles for engines and for thrusters,” Myers said. “Now we can offer a much more complete solution. Instead of just providing components or parts, we can provide complete subsystems for spacecraft and launch vehicles.”
Myers said the acquisition allows the company to move up the value chain. “Our customers are saying, ‘We don’t want to play general contractor or integrator and buy a bunch of parts and put them together. We need you to give us an integration-ready system that we can bolt on to our spacecraft.’ We’re starting to move more in that direction.”
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