A Note From Our President & Founder Jim Garrettson
Two of the countryâs 25 largest government contractors announced a transaction this week long anticipated by market observers as one of many in the sectorâs ongoing shift in composition.
CACI International, ranked 25th on Bloomberg Governmentâs fiscal year 2014 report, will purchase the government services segment of L-3 Communications for $550 million in a deal the companies expect to close by March of next year.
L-3, listed 8th on that âBGOV 200â study, views the sale as an opportunity to gain more focus on its defense technology portfolio and meets its stated goal to spin or sell the services segment by the yearâs end.
On the buyerâs side, CACI sees an opportunity to further grow its presence in the intelligence and national security community as CEO Ken Asbury described to investors in a subsequent call to discuss the deal.
Asbury described to analysts a government services market he views as having more stability now compared to the previous few years.
“We’re seeing the market has settled to a certain set of rates for those of us out of manufacturing environments so itâs easier for us to adjust. The phenomenon we’re seeing in market place is pure-play companies in our space are showing the ability to overcome budget difficulties and see modest growth.”
Wall Street seems to view the contracting sector now as having the kind of stability Asbury described as ourGovCon Index has shown a double-digit recovery in the fourth quarter from a sluggish July-September.
To date, the Index has shown a rally of almost 13 percent from its Sept. 30 close to completely reverse its third-quarter decline of 5 percent and as discussed here previously, investors appear to anticipate more activity in the defense-GovCon sector with the global terrorism environment garnering more attention.
Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index advanced 1.08% before the weekend and averted a third consecutive losing week. The index, which tracks the stock performances of 30 major government contractors, ended at $4,786.97 for a 0.13% week-on-week gain. Wall Street concluded the week with a tech sell-off, and only the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.01%) yielded a gain.
Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index ended the week with a 2.36% loss following the 0.8% drop Friday to $4,780.55. The index, which tracks the stock performances of 30 major government contractors, has fallen 3.04% since the start of April. Wall Street saw a broad market selloff due to the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel. All the major
Boeing (NYSE: BA) has booked a $111.9 million undefinitized firm-fixed-price order from the U.S. Navy to manufacture and deliver avionics long lead time parts and spares in support of the F/A-18E/F Block III and E/A-18G aircraft. The Department of Defense said Thursday the award, which was made against a previously issued basic ordering agreement, supports