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byline: Richard Foster

Serco completes $295M acquisition of Reston contractor

Herndon-based federal contractor Serco Inc. (a subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Serco Group plc) has completed its $295 million acquisition of Reston-based Whitney, Bradley & Brown (WBB) from an affiliate of Florida-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital.

The acquisition strengthens Serco’s program management services for its Department of Defense clients and enriches the company’s expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and cyber consulting, according to a company statement.

The acquisition is expected to contribute approximately $230 million in incremental revenues this year, Serco says, adding that WBB had a position on 35 federal contract vehicles with a combined ceiling value of over $70 billion, most of which are expected to carry over with the acquisition.

“We are happy to welcome the team from WBB aboard and incredibly excited about the scope of what we can now offer to clients across the Air Force, U.S. Space Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Department of Homeland Security and other strategic accounts,” Serco Chairman and CEO Dave Dacquino said in a statement. “Just as the naval system’s business of Alion joined Serco in 2019 to transform our relationship with the Navy, the expertise of this team makes us a highly credible provider of data-driven technology solutions across the full lifecycle.  Our experience of working with their leadership team through the acquisition process has only reinforced the deeply shared cultural values between our two organizations and the commitment to quality.”

Robert Olsen, former CEO of WBB and now senior vice president of the new Serco business unit, commented: “We are very happy to be joining Serco, as the synergies between the combined two companies will benefit the business, our employees and our customers. We are extremely excited about what we will be able to do working together to address many of our government’s most pressing technological, organizational, program, and financial challenges.”

Serco Group plc was founded more than 50 years ago and currently employs more than 40,000 people in 35 countries, 8,000 of whom are employed in the U.S. The company works primarily with federal and local government customers. WBB employs approximately 1,000 people and provides consulting services such as program management, mission performance, advanced analytics and machine learning. It reported approximately $212 million in 2020 revenue.

 

Arlington-based Higher Logic acquires Montreal’s Vanilla

Arlington-based tech company Higher Logic has acquired Canadian cloud-based community software company Vanilla.

Vanilla was owned by New York-based growth equity investment firm Level Equity. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Founded in 2007, Higher Logic offers a community engagement software platform aimed at associations and the corporate B2B market. With the acquisition of Vanilla’s engagement platform, Higher Logic is expanding its reach into the business-to-consumer market, according to a company news release.

The combined company has approximately 400 employees.

“We have always been impressed with Vanilla’s commitment to innovation in engagement and their ability to serve key business use cases in the B2B and B2C space for customers like Oracle, TeamViewer, Acer, Charter Communications and more,” Higher Logic CEO Kevin Boyce said in a statement. “Vanilla’s success in the corporate market complements our success with B2B technology companies like Change Healthcare, Juniper Networks, Imperva, and others. At the same time, our scale, profitability and accelerating growth will allow us to increase our investment in both the association and corporate markets and continue to build industry-leading engagement solutions that connect people, knowledge and ideas. We are excited to welcome the Vanilla team into the Higher Logic family.”

“Higher Logic has a proven track record in building community engagement and facilitating meaningful connections for organizations,” Vanilla CEO Luc Vezina said. “With more interactions happening digitally, community has become mission-critical for almost every organization. We are thrilled to be joining forces with Higher Logic to create the preeminent online community solution.”

Seeking growth, GPM enters into agreement with Chicago real estate firm

Richmond-based GPM Investments LLC, the nation’s seventh-largest convenience store chain, announced Tuesday that it has entered into a one-year agreement with Chicago-based Oak Street Real Estate Capital, which is committing up to $1 billion to purchase and lease to GPM real estate parcels associated with GPM’s acquisitions of convenience store chains and fueling stations.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Richmond-based publicly traded holding company Arko Corp., GPM will own and operate the related acquired businesses. Since 2011, GPM has made 18 major acquisitions, growing its holdings to include approximately 3,000 sites with more than 10,000 employees across 33 states and Washington, D.C. Its brands include Fas Mart and E-Z Mart.

“We believe that working with Oak Street will allow us to be a more attractive acquirer and add additional flexibility as we structure acquisitions,” GPM President and CEO Arie Kotler said in a statement. “We remain highly focused on our core acquisition model, and we expect that this partnership will enhance certainty of deal execution and, as a result, strengthen our growth as a company.”

“ARKO is a phenomenal company that is making the right strategic decisions,” said Marc Zahr, CEO and managing partner of Oak Street. “Their ability to utilize our balance sheet to fund their real estate footprint allows them to focus on their accretive growth and core operations. We are excited about what our partnership can do for their business and to help fuel their continued success.”

 

 

 

Booz Allen Hamilton acquires Herndon IT company for $725M

McLean-based Fortune 500 global management consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Herndon-based Liberty IT Solutions LLC for $725 million.

In a statement, Booz Allen President and CEO Horacio Rozanski said, “This acquisition supports our long-term strategy to drive continued growth by investing in innovative technologies and talent at scale. The addition of Liberty strengthens our unique market position as a leader in digital transformation, accelerates already robust growth in our health business and beyond, and delivers value for our people, our clients, and our shareholders.”

Liberty comes with a backlog of more than $2 billion in federal contracts and is expected to be “a growth driver within Booz Allen’s federal portfolio,” the company said in a news release.

Chris Bickell, a partner at Liberty, said, “Booz Allen and Liberty share a deep commitment to helping organizations achieve their goals through best-in-class solutions delivered with integrity, courage and ingenuity. By pairing Liberty’s leading Salesforce and LCNC qualifications with Booz Allen’s advanced technologies and proven people, processes and systems, we are scaling that critical support to deliver the essential transformation that clients need.”

With $7.5 billion in fiscal 2020 revenue, Booz Allen employs more than 27,600 workers globally, with about 10,000 employed in Virginia.

Dominion’s Surry nuclear plant’s lifespan extended to 2052-53

Dominion Energy Inc.’s two Surry County nuclear power reactors have received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate until 2052 and 2053.

The two nuclear reactors at Dominion’s Surry Power Station, which are capable of generating enough power for 419,000 homes, received a 20-year extension from its previous license, which allowed the plants to operate until 2032 and 2033. The station’s three-loop Westinghouse pressurized water nuclear reactors went into operation in 1972 and 1973 and will be 80 years old by 2052 and 2053.

Like all U.S. nuclear reactors, the North Anna and Surry nuclear facilities were both initially licensed to operate for 40 years. The Surry and North Anna reactors received 20-year operating extensions in 2003.

The Surry plants and the two nuclear power facilities at Dominion’s North Anna Power Station provide nearly a third of the electricity for the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility’s 2.7 million customers in Virginia and North Carolina. In September 2020, Dominion filed a still-pending request to keep the North Anna facility operating until 2060.

“Renewing Surry’s licenses for another 20-year period is great news for our customers, the environment and the regional economy,” said Dominion Energy’s chief nuclear officer, Dan Stoddard. “Our customers will benefit from continuing to receive safe, reliable, affordable and carbon-free electricity from the station through 2053. Extending Surry’s operations is critical to Dominion Energy meeting the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s requirements for zero-carbon electricity by 2045. It also positions Virginia for continued economic growth and will help the commonwealth remain a leader in the production of clean energy in the mid-Atlantic and South. It supports more than 900 high-paying jobs at the station and produces additional economic and tax benefits.”

In a statement, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said, “My administration has focused on building a carbon-free electricity grid. Carbon-free, around-the-clock nuclear power and the well-paying clean energy jobs it creates is a vital part of achieving that goal.”

 

AES to provide carbon-free power for Google’s Loudoun data centers

As part of Google LLC’s ambitious “moonshot” to produce all of its energy from carbon-free sources, Arlington-based The AES Corp. announced Tuesday that it has signed a 10-year agreement to provide carbon-free power for Google’s data centers in Loudoun County.

A Fortune 500 international electrical utility, AES will provide 90% of the Google data centers’ power from zero carbon emission sources, measured on an hourly basis, beginning later this year. The agreement is part of a Google initiative to run its operations on 100% carbon-free power on an hourly basis by 2030. Google has two major data centers in Loudoun currently, with a third under construction.

To provide energy for the data centers, AES is assembling a 500 MW portfolio of wind, solar, hydro and battery storage sources from a combination of AES-owned renewable energy projects as well as projects contracted from third-party energy developers. The amount of the contract was not disclosed but AES said it expects to invest $600 million in the project, creating 1,200 jobs, both permanent and construction-related, in the communities generating the power.

On April 20, for Earth Day, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced that five of the company’s data centers in Denmark, Finland, Iowa, Oklahoma and Oregon were now operating near or at 90% carbon-free energy. “Within a decade we aim for every Google data center, cloud region, and office campus to run on clean electricity every hour of every day,” Pichai wrote in a company blog post. “Our carbon-free goal is as ambitious as other moonshots like building a quantum computer or developing a self-driving car. I’ve never been more optimistic about our collective ability — as governments, companies and individuals — to come together and chart a more sustainable path forward for our planet. We’ll continue to lead by example in our operations, support our partners, and build helpful products to build a carbon-free future for all.”

“Last year, Google set an ambitious sustainability goal of committing to 100% 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. Today, we are proud that through our collaboration with Google, we are making 24/7 carbon-free energy a reality for their data centers in Virginia,” AES President and CEO Andrés Gluski said in a statement. “This first-of-its-kind solution, which we co-created with Google, will set a new sustainability standard for companies and organizations seeking to eliminate carbon from their energy supply.”

Google and AES formed a strategic alliance in 2019 to leverage Google Cloud technology in clean energy efforts.

Michael Terrell, Director of Energy at Google, said, “Not only is this partnership with AES an important step towards achieving Google’s 24/7 carbon-free energy goal, it also lays a blueprint for other companies looking to decarbonize their own operations. Our hope is that this model can be replicated to accelerate the clean energy transition, both for companies and, eventually, for power grids.”

With $9.66 billion in 2020 revenue, AES is one of the world’s largest power utilities, generating and distributing electricity in 15 nations across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. It employs more than 10,500 people worldwide.

 

 

Boeing makes record $50M gift to Va. Tech Innovation Campus

Aerospace and defense contractor Boeing made a record $50 million, multiyear commitment to foster diversity at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus under development in Alexandria, Virginia Tech announced Tuesday.

The largest corporate donation ever made to Virginia Tech, the commitment from Chicago-based Boeing also ties the largest private donation the university has received, the $50 million gift made in 2019 from the Horace G. Fralin Charitable Trust and Heywood and Cynthia Fralin for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands and Boeing President and CEO David L. Calhoun were expected to hold an event discussing the gift Tuesday morning at Boeing’s campus in Arlington’s National Landing district.

The commitment from the world’s second largest defense contractor to Virginia Tech’s graduate technology campus will include student scholarships, recruitment of faculty and researchers and funding pathway programs for underserved K-12 students seeking to pursue STEM degrees and technology-related careers. In exchange, Tech has named Boeing as the first foundational partner of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.

“We are extremely grateful to Boeing for this extraordinarily generous show of support,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “This is a milestone moment in our university’s history, and it will propel our work to help establish the greater Washington, D.C., area as the world’s next major tech hub. Boeing’s investment in the Innovation Campus, which equals the largest gift ever made to the university, builds on a relationship between Boeing and Virginia Tech that spans more than 70 years.”

Calhoun, a Virginia Tech alumnus, said, “Virginia Tech has a bold and unique vision to unlock the power of diversity to solve the world’s most pressing problems through technology, and we are proud to help make that vision a reality. Boeing is dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion, both within our company and in our communities, and we look forward to partnering with Virginia Tech to build a robust and diverse STEM talent pipeline to drive the future of aerospace.”

Boeing’s $50 million gift will support the physical campus under construction in Alexandria, as well as an array of scholarships, programs and initiatives, including:

  • Scholarships aimed at attracting and retaining a diverse group of graduate students at the campus.
  • Ph.D. fellowships to attract highly skilled and diverse researchers.
  • A data-driven approach to inclusion- and diversity-focused student recruitment.
  • A student success center.
  • A technology leadership program.
  • A project-based curriculum that would embed students with industry mentors.
  • Programs providing pathways for nontraditional undergraduates, including military veterans, to eventually pursue graduate studies at the Innovation Campus.
  • A K-12 STEM engagement program designed to increase diversity among technology workers.

The Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, which will anchor a 65-acre innovation district in Alexandria, is a major player in the state’s Tech Talent Investment Program. Created as part of Virginia’s successful bid to attract Amazon.com Inc.’s $2.5 billion HQ2 East Coast headquarters under development in National Landing, the Tech Talent Investment Program aims to produce 31,000 in-demand computer science and computer engineering graduates during the next two decades, through a cooperative program with 11 Virginia universities. Amazon alone plans to hire between 25,000 and 37,850 workers for HQ2 during the next 15 years. Nationally, the computer science and information technology sectors are expected to add 531,200 jobs between 2019 and 2029, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We launched this campus with an ambitious vision to diversify the talent in high-tech fields,” said Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. “It takes partners like Boeing to help us achieve such big goals. This gift allows us to begin initiatives now that would otherwise take years to start. We are honored to receive this record gift, and we look forward to delivering on what it has empowered us to do.”

SCC approves nine solar farms to provide power for Dominion

On April 30, the Virginia State Corporation Commission approved nine major solar farms, which have the potential to generate nearly 500 megawatts and power 125,000 homes for Virginia customers of Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility Dominion Energy Inc.

“This is another major step forward in building a clean energy economy in Virginia,” said Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia. “Our customers deserve reliable and affordable energy, and they also deserve a clean environment. These projects will help us deliver on that promise.”

Six of the nine solar projects are being procured through power purchase agreements and Dominion Energy owns and will operate the remaining three projects:

  • Grassfield Solar, a 20-megawatt facility in Chesapeake
  • Norge Solar, a 20-megawatt facility in James City County
  • Sycamore Solar, a 42-megawatt facility in Pittsylvania County

Raytheon Intelligence & Space receives $318M TSA contract

Arlington-based Raytheon Intelligence & Space will expand its deployment of checked baggage screening equipment to all federally managed airports nationwide under a five-year, $318 million contract with the Transportation Security Administration.

A subsidiary of Massachusetts-based Raytheon Technologies Corp., Raytheon Intelligence & Space previously had a contract to install and/or upgrade checked baggage screening equipment in 155 airports in the Central U.S. region. This contract expands that reach to the entire network of roughly 430 airports.

“We have worked with the TSA since its inception to strengthen security at our airports,” said John DeSimone, vice president of cybersecurity, training and services for Raytheon Intelligence & Space, in a statement. “This nationwide expansion of our partnership allows us to continue to protect passengers from evolving security threats.”

Raytheon Intelligence & Space generated $15 billion in pro forma annual revenue in 2020 and has 37,000 employees worldwide. It is one of four businesses that comprise Raytheon Technologies.

Reston-based Maximus gets $951M contract for national COVID hotline

Reston-based government services company Maximus has received a potential $951 million contract to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 national surge support and vaccine assistance hotline.

In the early months of the pandemic, Maximus staffed a 500-person CDC call center to respond to call and emails from health care providers and the public. The company also operates a contact center supporting users of the CDC’s Vaccine Tracking System.

Maximus has also operated state COVID-19 hotlines in California, New York and Indiana, as well as providing contact tracing services for programs in five states.

With more than 30,000 employees worldwide and $3.46 billion in 2020 revenues, Maximus promotes itself as the nation’s largest Medicaid enrollment administrator. The company was founded in 1975 and provides business process management and technology services.