PAE stockholders approve $1.9B acquisition by Amentum

Falls Church-based government contractor PAE Inc. (Pacific Architects and Engineers) announced Thursday its stockholders voted to approve and adopt the company’s previously announced agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Germantown, Maryland-based aerospace defense contractor Amentum Services Inc. in a $1.9 billion all-cash deal.

The transaction is expected to close on or around Feb. 15, at which time PAE will become a wholly owned affiliate of Amentum. A Fortune 1000 company, PAE employs about 20,000 workers across approximately 60 nations; Amentum has 34,000 employees stationed in all 50 states and 105 foreign nations and territories.

PAE shareholders will be entitled to receive $10.05 per share in cash upon the closing of the acquisition. The share purchase price is approximately 70% greater than PAE’s closing price on Oct. 22, 2021, the last trading day prior to the Amentum deal’s announcement. At 4:12 p.m. on Feb. 11, PAE shares were trading for $10.05.

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.