A group of investors led by a former defense industry veteran is buying Research and Engineering Development Inc. (RED Inc.), a Naval contractor.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed and calls seeking comment were not acknowledged by press time. In a statement, the company acknowledged that last year, its revenues were about $30 million. RED has been a Naval contractor for more than a decade.

David Aldrich formed DA Acquisition following a stint as chief executive of Techrizon, a company he acquired that serves as a software engineer to US Army clients. That company was ultimately sold to Stanley Associates. Aldrich also served as CEO of Telos Corp.

Mitch Martin, senior managing director for The McLean Group was the lead advisor on this deal.

DA Acquisition is targeting an increasingly competitive market. GTCR’s government services platform Six3 bought Harding Security Associates last year and CI Capital Partners, Providence Equity Partners and Veritas Capital have either already led deals or have been combing through assets in the space.

The buyer activity, however, has driven sellers back into the market. More recently, Lockheed Martin revealed it would divest two units in its information systems and global services segment in an attempt to shore up capital. And Argon ST recently found a buyer, with Boeing paying $775 million in a deal valued at roughly 14x Ebitda. 

Technology