VSC Forms Spectra Through Merger of Three Trusted Defense Technology Companies
Transaction Creates New Defense Technology Platform for Growth and Represents Vance Street’s Third Investment from its Third Fund
Los Angeles – February 18, 2021 – Vance Street Capital LLC (“Vance Street”), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced the combination of Calculex, Inc. (“CALCULEX”), Argon Corporation (“Argon”), and FDS Avionics Corp (“FDS”), forming a new platform company, Spectra A&D Holdings (“Spectra”).
As a result of the transactions, Spectra will become a diversified designer and manufacturer of highly-engineered avionics and electronics solutions primarily for the aerospace and defense technology market. Spectra offers its customers a differentiated portfolio of proprietary products that span the entire data capture lifecycle – recording, processing, routing, and ultimately displaying mission-critical data. This transaction represents the third platform investment out of Vance Street Capital III L.P.
Bob McGill, a 35-year veteran of the defense technology industry, will lead Spectra and serve as the company’s CEO. Earlier in his career, Bob led multiple divisions of L3 Technologies and General Dynamics.
“The formation of Spectra through the combination of CALCULEX, Argon, and FDS Avionics is a transformative event,” said Mr. McGill. “I am excited to partner with Vance Street which brings a strong team, highly relevant investing experience, and network in the C5ISR sector, along with significant operational resources. I look forward to working closely with the Vance Street team to deliver high-quality and innovative products to our customers and execute on the exciting growth opportunities we see on the horizon.”
“Spectra’s engineering and technical capabilities, combined with its proprietary products, are differentiated in the market,” said Brian Martin, Managing Partner at Vance Street. “We plan to leverage our prior aerospace and defense technology experience, network, and resources to help Bob grow Spectra organically and through acquisition.”
“Vance Street is custom-tailored to provide entrepreneurs and executives the resources they need to accelerate growth,” said Nic Janneck, Principal at Vance Street. “With the additional support and capital we can bring, Spectra will be able to invest in the continued development of advanced avionics technologies to address the challenges of some of the most demanding customers in the world.”
Vedder Price acted as legal advisor to Vance Street. Debt financing was provided by Fidus Investment Corporation. Argon was represented by Janes Capital Partners. CALCULEX and FDS were acquired in proprietary transactions. The terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
About Vance Street Capital LLC:
Vance Street Capital is a middle-market private equity firm focused on investing in highly-engineered solutions businesses across the medical, life science, aerospace, defense, and industrial sectors. For over two decades, Vance Street’s partners have worked with management teams and family owners to accelerate revenue growth, improve operations and acquire strategic assets for the companies in their investment portfolio. For more information please visit: www.vancestreetcapital.com.
