Gladstone Investment and Proteus Enterprises announced its acquisition of Ricardo Defense Systems, LLC and Ricardo Defense, Inc. (collectively known as RDI). Gladstone Investment provided equity and senior secured debt to complete the transaction.
Troy, Michigan-based RDI is an engineering services and systems integration firm focused on helping Department of Defense customers solve technical hurdles to modernizing, managing, and maintaining the fleet.
Gladstone Investment is a publicly traded business development company looking to make equity and secured debt investments in lower middle market businesses in connection with acquisitions, changes in control, and recapitalizations.
The divestment from Ricardo plc is part of the company’s ongoing transformation program to reposition its portfolio in line with the shift to environmental and energy-transition solutions. The net proceeds of the sale will be used to fund all the cash consideration for the initial 85% of E3 Advisory, which is expected to be completed soon.
Proteus Enterprise and Gladstone Investment Corporation offer Ricardo Defense support and investment to advance its next-generation programs, having significant experience investing, supporting, and operating aerospace, defense, and government-services businesses and with a deep passion for the industry.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are looking forward to working with Proteus, President Chet Gryczan and the team at RDI to build on the company’s established presence and to continue bringing innovative solutions to its customers.”
- Christopher Lee, Senior Managing Director of Gladstone Investment
“We are thrilled to be adding another quality portfolio company to Gladstone Investment’s assets through this acquisition, as we expect it to produce both income for dividends to shareholders and longer-term capital appreciation for capital gains.”
- David Dullum, President of Gladstone Investment
“We continue to make progress in focusing on our core consulting portfolio as we accelerate our transformation to become a world-leading strategic and engineering consultancy in environmental and energy-transition solutions. For this reason, Ricardo firmly believes that Ricardo Defense Inc. will be a better fit for its new owners, who are focused on supporting and operating defense companies.”
- Ricardo Group plc CEO Graham Ritchie
