Amazon HQ2 impact on housing market short-lived, report says
The June opening of Amazon.com’s $2.5 billion East Coast headquarters in Arlington County only had a short-lived impact on home prices, and it’s hard to pinpoint HQ2’s direct impact due to other factors affecting residential costs, according to a report released this month by Bright MLS Research. When Amazon announced [...]
Private equity firm completes buy of Herndon’s Exostar
Arlington Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Herndon-based cybersecurity company Exostar, the Chevy Chase, Maryland-based private equity firm announced Monday. The deal was announced in September, and financial terms were not disclosed. It comes a little more than three years after Exostar was acquired by Chicago-[...]
Mars to acquire British chocolatier for $662M
A subsidiary of McLean-based international candy and pet food manufacturer Mars, the largest privately held company in Virginia, has agreed to acquire Britain’s Hotel Chocolat for $662 million, Mars announced Thursday. Bidco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mars, will acquire Britain’s largest chocolate maker in a cash offer at[...]
Warner condemns FBI HQ site selection in Md. as ‘corrupt’
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday that the FBI headquarters site selection — choosing Greenbelt, Maryland, over Springfield — was “corrupt” and that he expected better from the Biden administration. Warner’s comments followed a Thursday morning email by FBI director Christopher Wray to the agency’s [...]
McLean tech firm Pangiam to sell to BigBear.ai for $70M
Columbia, Maryland-based BigBear.ai Holdings is acquiring Pangiam Intermediate Holdings, a McLean-based facial recognition and biometrics solutions provider for the trade, travel and digital identification industries, in a $70 million, all-stock deal, BigBear announced Monday. The move will combine Pangiam’s technologies with BigBear.ai’s computer vision capabilities and allow BigBear.ai to expand its customer base and offer[...]
Bain Capital affiliate to acquire Guidehouse for $5.3B
Guidehouse has entered into an agreement to be acquired by a Bain Capital Private Equity affiliate for $5.3 billion, the McLean-based consultancy announced Monday. The investment will support Guidehouse’s growth plans, the company said, and it will continue to operate under its current management team, which is led by Chai[...]
Brick Industry Association names new prez, CEO
The Reston-based Brick Industry Association has announced that Tricia Mauer will become its next president and CEO on Jan. 1, 2025. Mauer, who has served as the association’s vice president of membership and programs since 2016, will take over as chief operating officer for the organization on Jan. 1, 2024, and work in tha[...]
Leidos shakes up C-suite in restructuring
Months after new Leidos CEO Tom Bell hinted at a “new North Star” for the Reston-based Fortune 500 contractor, the company has announced a shakeup of its C-suite and a reorganization. The company solidified the changes Thursday, two days after releasing its third-quarter report, which included revenues of $3.9 billio[...]
Fairfax AI firm acquired by Texas-based tech company
Fairfax-based ARInspect, a firm specializing in artificial intelligence products for public sector field operations, has been acquired by Texas software company Tyler Technologies, the companies announced Tuesday. Tyler declined to disclose the price and terms of the deal. Tyler will add ARInspect’s AI-powered platform to its portfolio and use the Fairfax company’s technology across its […][...]
Northrop Grumman awarded up to $732M for satellite contract
Fortune 500 Falls Church defense contractor Northrop Grumman will build 38 data transport satellites for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency under a contract valued up to $732 million as the agency builds out a space-based communications network. The work, announced Monday by the agency, falls under Tranche 2 T[...]
King George exploring second industrial park
King George County officials are negotiating with two landowners where the county wants to build a new industrial and technology park as it looks for a spot to lure more businesses. The existing 149-acre King George County Industrial Park is full, and there’s nothing to offer economic development prospects there. During the pa[...]
Fix-it shop
Since becoming Arlington County’s economic development director in November 2022, Ryan Touhill’s most pressing challenge has been sharply delineated: The county’s office vacancy rate has hit 23.7%, nearly twice the national rate of 13.1%, a record high itself, according to the National Association of Realtors. Like other l[...]