Huntington Ingalls Industries completes $1.65B Alion deal

Newport News-based Fortune 500 military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries has completed its $1.65 billion, all-cash acquisition of McLean-based defense contractor Alion Science and Technology Corp. from Veritas Capital, HII announced Thursday.

The acquisition was first announced in July.

Alion, with more than 3,200 employees, will become part of HII’s Technical Solutions division. That division, started in 2016, supports national security missions with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, and nuclear and environmental services.

“Alion greatly expands our ability to provide leading-edge solutions to the nation’s most complex national security challenges,” said Andy Green, HII executive vice president and president of HII’s Technical Solutions division, in a statement. “Alion is a perfect complement to our existing capabilities in the technology-driven defense and federal solutions space. The services and products they provide are directly in line with the strategic focus that we have articulated for Technical Solutions.”

Alion had been part of New York-based private equity firm Veritas since 2015, and was founded in 2002. The contractor specializes in ISR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance), military training and simulation, and other technology solutions for defense and intelligence community customers.

HII is the nation’s largest military shipbuilding company, with more than 42,000 employees worldwide. More than 20,000 of those employees work for HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division, the state’s largest industrial employer. HII reported 2020 revenue of $9.36 billion.