BlueHalo, a major space player in U.S. government contracting work with a large presence in Albuquerque, announced Tuesday it struck a deal to acquire cyber intelligence and advanced research and development firm Eqlipse Technologies.
The transaction, which is expected to close in the next six weeks, would see the combined company's employee count grow to over 2,400 people across 11 states and hit annual revenue close to $1 billion, according to a public relations specialist for BlueHalo.
Jonathan Moneymaker, BlueHalo's current CEO who'll lead the combined company, told New Mexico Inno the deal is the company's largest acquisition to date.
BlueHalo has had a presence in Albuquerque since forming in 2019, thanks in part to the acquisition of Albuquerque-based Applied Technology Associates. Moneymaker said the Duke City serves as one of the company's "core hubs and centers of excellence."
That's in part because BlueHalo's campus at the Sandia Science and Technology Park is in close proximity to Kirtland Air Force Base, which houses one of the primary research sites for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the primary scientific research and development center for the U.S. Department of the Air Force. Moneymaker said AFRL, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is one BlueHalo's "core" customers.
Albuquerque is also central to the company's product development and advanced innovations. Those innovations, Moneymaker said, inform future BlueHalo product lines. Existing product lines include a space communications technology called WASP, or Wide Area Scanning Parabolic, and a laser weapon system called Locust.
BlueHalo develops both those systems, and another antenna-based space communications technology called BADGER, or Broad Area Deployable Ground terminal Enabling Resilient communication, at facilities in Albuquerque, Moneymaker said. The city is among a few others where BlueHalo occupies major sites, including the Washington, D.C. metro area; Huntsville, Alabama; Dayton, Ohio; and Sunrise, Florida.
The company currently employs nearly 400 people in New Mexico and expects to hire more than 150 in 2024.
Moneymaker said BlueHalo has worked with leaders in New Mexico, including Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, on continued investment in Albuquerque. The company has invested $52 million in the city to date and expects to invest another $15 million over the next two to three years.
The company occupies around 200,000 square feet of space across three facilities in the 340-acre Sandia Science and Technology Park, including a 73,000-square-foot manufacturing site and additional advanced research and development and prototyping areas. The Arlington, Virginia-based company opened that manufacturing facility in July 2022, which was backed by a $16 million industrial revenue bond and $2.5 million in Local Economic Development Act incentives from the City of Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico.
"I think we're going to continue to drive that strategy, and it'll serve as one of our major hubs for the foreseeable future," Moneymaker said about BlueHalo's Albuquerque campus.
Bigger picture, Moneymaker said the major deal with Eqlipse could help solidify BlueHalo's status as a "truly disruptive next-generation prime." ("Prime" refers to a type of contractor that works directly with the government.) He said the company is a sort of "Goldilocks" in the market of prime contractors because its expected annual revenue of near $1 billion allows it to "deliver billion-dollar programs at scale."
"But also nimble and agile enough to be able to out-innovate our competition, and I think serve our customers in new and unique ways," Moneymaker added.
Eqlipse was formed by the combination of five legacy companies under the portfolio of Chevy Chase, Maryland-based private investment firm Arlington Capital Partners in March 2023. BlueHalo is also a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners.
The D.C.-area investment firm closed its largest-ever fund in late January at $3.8 billion and, just after the turn of the year, announced the formation of three new portfolio companies, per reporting by sister publication Washington Business Journal. BlueHalo itself was formed in 2019 by Arlington Capital through the combination of Hunstville, Alabama-based Aegis Technologies, an existing portfolio company, with the acquisitions of Albuquerque-based Applied Technology Associates and Dayton, Ohio-based Brilligent Solutions.
