Amentum seals deal on $1.9B PAE acquisition

The $1.9 billion, all-cash acquisition of Falls Church-based government contractor PAE Inc. (Pacific Architects and Engineers) by an affiliate of Germantown, Maryland-based aerospace defense contractor Amentum Services Inc. has closed, the two companies have announced.

The  deal, which closed Feb. 15, was first announced in October 2021 and PAE’s stockholders voted to approve the deal on Feb. 10.

“Over the past 66 years, the PAE brand has become recognized for achieving success through global mission services around the world,” PAE Interim President and CEO Charlie Peiffer said in a statement. “Thanks to our new team at Amentum, we will continue to provide world-class support to our clients with the best growth opportunities for our employees. I would like to thank every employee for their continued commitment to our mission and I’m looking forward to our future at Amentum.”

PAE common stock and warrants have stopped trading on and are no longer listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Upon closing, PAE stockholders were entitled to receive $10.05 in cash for each share of their PAE common stock.

“Acquiring PAE is a meaningful step forward in our commitment to being the best partner to our clients,” Amentum CEO John Vollmer said. “We look forward to bringing the best people and the most differentiated solutions to support our clients’ success across defense and civilian agencies while accelerating our growth in intelligence and technology services.”

A Fortune 1000 company, PAE employs about 20,000 workers across approximately 60 nations; Amentum has about 57,000 employees on all seven continents.

Founded in California in 1955 by engineer Edward Shay, PAE was acquired in 2006 by Lockheed Martin Corp., which moved PAE’s headquarters to Virginia. The company was sold to Lindsay Goldberg and then Platinum Equity before debuting as a publicly-traded company on the Nasdaq in 2020.