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Capital One, Discover clear hurdles for $35.3B megadeal

Announced in February, McLean-based Capital One Financial’s proposed $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services is moving forward, with stockholders’ votes scheduled early next year, the credit card giants announced this week.

Capital One also announced Thursday it received approval from the Office of the Delaware State Bank Commissioner on Wednesday to complete the purchase of Discover Financial Services and its subsidiary, Discover Bank, a Delaware-chartered bank. On Tuesday, both companies said special stockholders’ meetings are scheduled Feb. 18, 2025, to allow holders of Discover and Capital One common stock to vote at their company’s respective meeting to approve the deal.

According to Thursday’s news release, Capital One expects the transaction to close in early 2025, pending approval by both banks’ stockholders and approval by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

The all-stock acquisition, Capital One’s largest ever purchase, has been under regulatory scrutiny. Two Capital One cardholders filed a federal class action lawsuit against Discover and Capital One in July, claiming the megadeal would violate antitrust law, but the case was paused in October, pending further action by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In July, Capital One committed to spend $265 billion over five years to lending, philanthropy and investment if the deal goes through.

New York Attorney General Letitia James also launched an investigation to determine whether the acquisition violates the state’s antitrust laws, and in October, she asked a state judge to subpoena Capital One for documents she said she needed for her probe, Reuters reported. However, following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in November, shares of Discover and Capital One jumped, as investors appeared to have greater faith that the deal would go through under his administration.

A Fortune Global 500 company, Capital One had $353.6 billion in deposits and $486.4 billion in total assets as of Sept. 30.

McLean’s QinetiQ US expands to Huntsville, Alabama

QinetiQ US, a McLean security and defense contractor, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday to celebrate its expansion into Huntsville, Alabama.

Known as “The Rocket City” for its role in the country’s development of space exploration, Huntsville is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, which is located at the Redstone Arsenal. Originally established to make ammunition and chemicals during World War II, the arsenal later became the U.S. Army’s center for its missile and rocket program. More than 300 companies have offices at the nearby Cummings Research Park in Huntsville including Lockheed Martin, Akima and General Dynamics Mission Systems.

The new QinetiQ US office is located on 4100 Market St. in Huntsville.

Adults stand behind a red ribbon. One woman holds oversized scissors.
Shawn Purvis, president and CEO of QinetiQ US (holding scissors), and others celebrated the opening of the company’s Alabama office in December 2024. Photo courtesy QinetiQ US.

“Our Huntsville office provides an initial footprint next to the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal that will support our growing team and customer needs,” Anton Pototski, a spokesperson for the company, wrote in an email. “We are positioned to scale our presence as we continue to expand in the region.”

QinetiQ has a core team established in Huntsville and is actively hiring positions in systems engineering, software development, cybersecurity, robotics engineering and program management, Potoski stated when asked the number of workers the company plans to employ in Alabama.

QinetiQ declined to provide the cost of the expansion. “…This expansion represents a significant strategic commitment to the Huntsville market and our growing customer base in the region,” Potoski wrote. 

In addition to the QinetiQ US headquarters in McLean, the company has “various locations across Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Colorado and North Carolina,” according to Potoski. 

The expansion follows an October announcement that the U.S. Army Contracting Command had awarded QinetiQ US a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract that has an estimated ceiling of $95 million to support the U.S. Army’s Threat Systems Management Office at the Redstone Arsenal.

“For over 30 years, QinetiQ has been a leader in providing realistic threat representation through our advanced target systems and comprehensive support services,” Shawn N. Purvis, president and CEO of QinetiQ US, said in a statement. “By establishing a presence in Rocket City, we’re bringing this legacy of service and innovation to support the warfighter with cutting-edge solutions across multi-domain autonomous systems, ISR, mission operations and data and digital solutions. This expansion underscores our commitment to delivering mission-led innovation in this growing hub of aerospace and defense activity, further enhancing our ability to address complex challenges faced by defense and national security organizations.”

The QinetiQ US sector, which has more than 1,400 employees, reported $1.3 billion in total contract awards during fiscal year 2024. Its United Kingdom-based parent company, QinetiQ Group PLC, has about 8,500 employees.

HII division lands $6.7B Air Force contract

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ McLean-based Mission Technologies division a $6.7 billion contract to provide electronic warfare engineering and technical services support, according to a Thursday announcement from the defense contractor. 

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is the largest Mission Technologies has yet landed, according to HII. 

“We have a team of subject matter experts with deep expertise in all aspects of electromagnetic spectrum and electronic warfare, and we are committed to staying a step ahead of our adversaries alongside our customers as the complexity of warfare changes,” Andy Green, HII executive vice president and president of Mission Technologies, said in a statement.

Additionally, HII announced Wednesday that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of W International SC and Vivid Empire SC. Collectively known as W International, the South Carolina complex metal fabricator specializes in manufacturing shipbuilding structures, modules and assemblies.

Aerial shot of manufacturing facility that sits next to water.
W International facility in South Carolina. Photo courtesy HII.

A spokesperson for HII declined to provide terms of the deal. 

After the acquisition closes, the manufacturing facility in Goose Creek, South Carolina, will operate within HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The site will support construction of nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carrier modules and structures for U.S. Navy programs. NNS is one of only two U.S. shipyards capable of designing and building nuclear‐powered submarines.

“Substantially all current employees will be offered positions with HII to continue to work on-site,” the release stated.

“HII is committed to increasing build rates for our Navy customer, and this investment in capacity alongside the Navy will help us do that,” said HII President and CEO Chris Kastner. “It lets us efficiently add trained talent and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities to the urgent job of building ships.”

The acquired assets include advanced production facilities that are located on a leased 45-acre site with more than 480,000 square feet of manufacturing space as well as barge and rail access.

The facility in South Carolina will be known as Newport News Shipbuilding – Charleston Operations.

Matt Needy, currently Newport News Shipbuilding’s vice president and chief transformation officer, will become general manager of the site. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and other factors.

Newport News-based HII is the nation’s largest military shipbuilder and the largest industrial employer in Virginia. The Fortune 500 company employs more than 44,000 workers. The Mission Technologies division has more than 7,000 employees and more than 100 facilities globally. HII reported $11.5 billion in revenues for 2023.

HII’s Mission Technologies secures $3B DOD contract

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ McLean-based Mission Technologies division won a $3 billion contract to provide the Department of Defense logistics and intelligence support and technology.

Under the Logistics Services, ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] Operations and Next-Gen Technology (LOGIX) task order, the HII division will provide strategy-level support to the DOD and its mission partners. HII announced the award, which supports the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy, on Wednesday.

Todd Gentry, president of Mission Technologies’ All-Domain Operations group, said in a statement: “LOGIX positions our team to expand our support to mission partners globally, partnering with DOD to provide worldclass intelligence, integrated logistics, and emerging technologies and solutions to enhance and inform our mission partners’ decision space in a multi-domain contested environment. We’re honored to have been selected and are ready to execute.”

Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries is the nation’s largest military shipbuilder and the largest industrial employer in Virginia. The Fortune 500 company employs more than 44,000 workers. The Mission Technologies division has more than 7,000 employees and more than 100 facilities globally.

Also on Wednesday, HII reported its third quarter earnings. The shipbuilder’s revenue was $2.7 billion, down 2.4% from the third quarter of 2023. Lower volume at Mississippi-based Ingalls Shipbuilding and Newport News Shipbuilding drove the decrease, but Mission Technologies’ growth partially offset it, according to HII.

HII also lowered its fiscal 2024 shipbuilding revenue expectations — from a range of $8.8 billion to $9.1 billion down to approximately $8.8 billion — because of uncertainty about the timing of a Navy contract on Virginia-class Block V and Block VI and Columbia-class submarines, supply chain delays and a less experienced workforce. The company increased its expected revenue from the Mission Technologies division, though, from a range of $2.75 billion to $2.8 billion to a range of $2.8 billion to $2.85 billion.

Appian taps new chief revenue officer

Mark Dorsey is the Appian’s new chief revenue officer, the McLean cloud computing and software company announced Oct. 11.

He replaces Christopher Jones, who left in April to become chief revenue officer for New Relic, a software developer based in San Francisco.

Dorsey, who has a MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, will lead Appian’s global sales operations and will report to Appian founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board Matt Calkins.

“He’s a natural leader with a talent for creating high-performing, scalable teams,” Calkins stated in a news release.

Dorsey boasts more than a quarter of a century of experience leading sales teams at cloud and software as a service companies. Most recently, he worked for Alteryx, an analytics software company, as senior vice president of sales. He also worked at a seven-year stint at Oracle, the cloud technology company. As senior vice president of enterprise cloud sales, Dorsey led the cloud business for Oracle’s top 1,000 North American accounts.

In July, the Virginia Court of Appeals called for a new trial in the corporate espionage civil case between  Appian and Massachusetts rival Pegasystems. The three-judge panel stated Appian was improperly relieved of the burden of proving that Pega financially benefited from misappropriating Appian’s trade secrets.

In May 2022, Appian won a record $2.03 billion award against Pega in Fairfax County Circuit Court over allegations that Pega used multiple methods to spy on its rival from 2012 to 2020. Appian has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Appian had 2,243 full-time employees at the end of 2023, with 1,518 of those based in the United States. The company reported $545.4 million in 2023 revenue, up 17% over 2022.

These six Va. billionaires made Forbes’ 2024 richest Americans list

Six Virginia billionaires are among the 400 richest Americans, according to Forbes’ annual ranking, which the media company released Tuesday.

To make the Forbes 400 list, U.S. citizens had to have a minimum net worth of $3.3 billion — an increase of $400 million over 2023’s list.

Collectively, the members of this elite club are worth a whopping record $5.4 trillion, a nearly $1 trillion increase over 2023. A dozen individuals who made the list are worth more than $100 billion.

The top-ranking Virginian on this year’s list is heiress Jacqueline Mars, one of the family owners behind Virginia’s largest privately owned company, McLean-based candy and pet care empire Mars, which was started by her grandfather, Frank C. Mars. With a net worth of $47.6 billion, Jacqueline Mars, who lives in The Plains in Fauquier County, ranked No. 19 on the Forbes list. She owns an estimated third of the family business, where she worked for nearly two decades and served on its board until 2016.

Her niece, Pamela Mars, who lives in Alexandria, ranked as the 77th richest American, with a net worth of $11.9 billion. Pamela Mars started working at the family business in 1986 and currently serves as the family’s ambassador to the Mars pet care division.

Drop down to No. 283 on the Forbes list and you’ll find the third-ranking Virginian: Winifred J. Marquart of Virginia Beach, with a net worth of $4.7 billion. The great-great-granddaughter of S.C. Johnson & Son founder Samuel Curtis Johnson Sr., Marquart is president of the Johnson Family Foundation, which funds programs that help the environment, promote equality and support education and youth.

The fourth wealthiest Virginian on the Forbes rankings is Carlyle Group co-founder Daniel D’Aniello, who came in at No. 319 with a net worth of $4.3 billion. Since stepping down as chairman of Carlyle in 2018, D’Aniello, who lives in Vienna, retains the title of chairman emeritus of the global private equity firm where Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was CEO. A Vietnam War veteran, D’Aniello worked at Trans World Airlines, Pepsi and Marriott before co-launching Carlyle in 1987.

Bitcoin billionaire Michael Saylor, whom Forbes lists as living in the town of Vienna in Fairfax County but has said in court filings that he lives in Florida, ranked at No. 338 on the list, with a net worth of $3.9 billion. Saylor is founder and chairman of Tysons-based tech company MicroStrategy, which is widely reported to be the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder.

Carlyle Group co-founder and former co-CEO William Conway Jr., who lives in McLean, is the 347th richest American and the sixth richest Virginian, with a net worth of $3.8 billion, according to Forbes. Conway was also a past chief financial officer of MCI Communications, the now-defuct telecom company.

Nationally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk topped the list of the 400 wealthiest Americans for the third straight year, with a net worth of $244 billion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranked No. 2, with $197 billion. And after not making the cut in 2023, former President Donald Trump ranked at No. 319 this year, with a net worth of $4.3 billion.

“The Forbes 400 is richer than ever, and it’s harder than ever to be one of the 400 richest people in America,” Chase Peterson-Withorn, senior editor at Forbes, stated in an announcement.

HII’s Mission Technologies wins $458M DOD contract

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ McLean-based Mission Technologies division won a $458 million federal defense contract to modernize information technology architecture.

Under the five-year task order, which HII announced Tuesday it had won, the division will use model-based systems engineering to develop, assess and implement technical solutions to improve cybersecurity, add capabilities and enable cloud migration on U.S. Defense Department communication and information technology networks.

“We are honored by the customer’s trust in HII and our approach,” Andy Green, HII executive vice president and Mission Technologies president, said in a statement. “As we advance their IT transformation goals, we are committed to delivering cutting-edge expertise and solutions that will have a direct, positive impact on our frontline warfighters.”

The U.S. Air Force’s 774th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron awarded the contract through the Defense Department’s Information Analysis Center Multiple Award Contract vehicle to develop the Defense Technical Information Center repository and support research and development.

Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries is the nation’s largest military shipbuilder and the largest industrial employer in Virginia. The Fortune 500 company employs more than 44,000 workers. The Mission Technologies division has more than 7,000 employees and more than 100 facilities globally.

Chain Bridge Bancorp plans to go public

Chain Bridge Bancorp, the McLean holding company for Chain Bridge Bank, National Association, is planning to go public.

On Friday, the company filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of Class A common stock. The number of shares and price range for the IPO have not yet been set.

The proposed offering would start “as soon as practicable after the registration statement is declared effective,” according to the company’s SEC filing. Chain Bridge shares would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CBNA.

As of June 30, Chain Bridge had $1.4 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in total deposits. Chain Bridge had deposit clients in 48 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. About 38% of its total deposits came from Washington, D.C., and about 32% came from Virginia.

Chain Bridge Bancorp first announced it was evaluating an IPO in May. According to Friday’s SEC filing, the company would use the net proceeds from the proposed IPO to repay an outstanding balance of $10 million on an unsecured line of credit with another bank that is scheduled to mature on Dec. 5 and “for general corporate purposes,” which could include “funding potential strategic expansion.”

Chain Bridge Bancorp was incorporated in May 2006, and the bank opened in August 2007. Its CEO, John Brough, joined the company in July 2006 and became founding CEO of the bank in August 2007.

Piper Sandler & Co., Raymond James & Associates and Hovde Group are the book-running managers for the IPO.

In June 2020, California medical supply company Blue Flame Medical sued Chain Bridge, alleging the bank was responsible for destroying the company’s reputation and making it lose a $600 million state contract for personal protective equipment. In March 2023, a panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia’s ruling in favor of Chain Bridge.

V2X lands up to $747M Navy contract

V2X has received an up to $747 million U.S. Navy contract to maintain F-5 supersonic fighter jets used in military training exercises, the McLean-based Fortune 1000 aerospace and defense contractor announced Monday.

Under the single-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, V2X will be responsible for providing critical support and operational readiness of the F-5 aircraft, which the Navy and Marine Corps use to train pilots by simulating air-to-air combat and adversary combat tactics. Falls Church-based Fortune 500 defense contractor Northrop Grumman manufactured the aircraft.

“We are honored to have been selected for this critical endeavor, further solidifying our dedication to providing industry-leading support for our nation’s defense,” V2X President and CEO Jeremy C. Wensinger said in a statement. “We look forward to leveraging our expertise and capabilities to ensure the operational excellence of the F-5 aircraft and, by extension, the readiness of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.”

Work is expected to continue through November 2028 on the base contract, although there are three one-year options that could extend the contract through November 2031.

V2X formed in 2022 from the $2.1 billion merger of Colorado-based government contractor Vectrus and Mississippi-based The Vertex Co. The company reported $3.96 billion in 2023 revenue and has about 16,000 employees.

Mars to purchase Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts maker in $35.9B deal

Updated Aug. 16

McLean-based snack and pet care giant Mars announced Wednesday it has entered into a $35.9 billion, all-cash deal to purchase Kellanova, the maker of Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Eggo and other food brands.

Kellanova, created in October 2023 when Kellogg split into two companies, had 2023 net sales of more than $13 billion, while the privately owned Mars had net sales of more than $50 billion, according to a news release Wednesday.

“In welcoming Kellanova’s portfolio of growing global brands, we have a substantial opportunity for Mars to further develop a sustainable snacking business that is fit for the future,” Mars CEO Poul Weihrauch said in a statement. “We will honor the heritage and innovation behind Kellanova’s incredible snacking and food brands while combining our respective strengths to deliver more choice and innovation to consumers and customers. We have tremendous respect for the storied legacy that Kellanova has built and look forward to welcoming the Kellanova team.”

Kellanova will become part of the Mars Snacking division, and will be headquartered in Chicago and led by Mars Snacking Global President Andrew Clarke after the deal is completed, the statement said.

Under the agreement’s terms, Mars will acquire all outstanding equity of Kellanova for $83.50 per share in cash, and all of Kellanova’s brands, assets and operations will be included in the transaction. The acquisition is subject to Kellanova shareholders’ approval and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close within the first half of 2025, Mars said. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust and the Gund Family have entered into agreements pursuant to which they have committed to vote shares representing 20.7% of Kellanova’s common stock, as of Aug. 9, in favor of the transaction.

According to Reuters, Kellanova said the closing date of the deal could be extended by up to 12 months if the two companies don’t receive the necessary regulatory approvals by next August. If the deal does not go through due to a failure to receive regulatory approval, Mars must pay $1.25 billion to Kellanova, and likewise, if Kellanova’s board changes its mind and does not support the deal, the snack maker will have to pay Mars $800 million, Reuters reported.

Mars, the maker of M&Ms, Snickers and Twix, as well as the owner of a growing pet food and pet care business, is the largest privately held company in Virginia and the fourth largest in the nation, employing about 150,000 people worldwide. Under Weihrauch, who became CEO in 2022, Mars has aimed to double its sales by 2033 and has acquired six candy and veterinary companies over the past two years. Mars Petcare veterinary care and pet foods branch accounted for about 60% of the company’s 2023 revenue, according to the company.

However, the purchase of Kellanova is the largest acquisition proposed by Mars, which has 15 brands that marked more than $1 billion each in annual sales. On Kellanova’s end, Pringles and Cheez-It both exceed $1 billion in annual sales.

In October 2023, Kellogg Co. finalized the separation of its North American cereal and snack businesses, resulting in W.K. Kellogg Co. — owner of Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes and other cereals — and Kellanova, which includes snack food brands such as Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Nutri-Grain, Cheez-It and Eggo, as well as vegetarian brand MorningStar Farms.