Booz Allen to acquire Texas defense tech company for $720M

McLean-based Fortune 500 government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton plans to acquire Austin, Texas-based defense technology company Ultra I&C Mission Solutions for $720 million, a move designed to expand its offerings in mission-critical software, encryption and edge-computing products.

Booz Allen announced the proposed acquisition Monday, saying it had entered into a definitive agreement with Cobham Ultra Group, an Advent portfolio company that owns Ultra I&C Mission Solutions. The company said that commercial technologies have become increasingly central to modern warfighting and that the United States and its allies need better ways to integrate those technologies into battlefield operations. Booz Allen said combining the two companies’ products will help it deliver these enhanced capabilities more quickly and at a larger scale.

“Technological superiority is essential to U.S. national security, and maintaining our advantage requires a relentless focus on speed and outcomes,” Booz Allen Chairman and CEO Horacio Rozanski said in a statement. “Booz Allen is strategically investing to accelerate delivery of our defense tech products into national security missions. Now, by integrating Ultra Mission Solutions into our robust portfolio, we are further strengthening our ability to rapidly build and field the commercial products that will keep America ahead.”

In April, Booz Allen purchased Defy Security, a Pennsylvania cybersecurity company, for an undisclosed amount.

Tracing its roots back more than 100 years, Ultra I&C Mission Solutions develops mission-critical software, edge-computing and encryption products for U.S. military and allied customers. The company employs about 220 people, including roughly 135 specialized engineers, across five U.S. facilities. It is not yet clear what will happen to all of its employees or locations post-acquisition, and Booz Allen did not immediately return requests for comment.

“Our customers operate where failure isn’t an option, and meeting that standard has always defined our work,” Ultra Missions Solutions President Mladen Brkic said in a statement. “As part of Booz Allen, we’ll bring greater scale and investment to our employees, products and the critical technologies customers rely on in the most contested conditions and wherever the mission demands it.”

Booz Allen said it expects revenue from the acquisition to grow at a strong double-digit rate over the next several years while generating profit margins above 20%. The deal is expected to close by Sept. 30, pending customary closing conditions. After the transaction closes, Ultra Mission Solutions will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Booz Allen.

Booz Allen has more than 80 locations and about 31,600 employees worldwide. It plans to relocate its headquarters from McLean to Reston in 2027.