This year has seen significant M&A activity, as evidenced by: the General Dynamics buyout of CSRA, completed in April, which folded CSRA under GD Information Technology; the creation of Perspecta from DXC Technology’s U.S. public sector business, Vencore and KeyPoint Government Solutions, which began trading June 1st; and the Northrop Grumman purchase of Orbital ATK, which concluded Wednesday.
I’d like to take a moment to highlight Wash100 winners involved in those first two deals: the chairman and chief executive officer of GD, Phebe Novakovic, is a four-time winner; the president of GDIT, Amy Gilliland, is a 2018 Wash100 winner; the former president and CEO of CSRA, Lawrence Prior, is a four-time winner; the CEO of Perspecta, Mac Curtis, is a five-time winner; the chief operating officer of Perspecta, Marilyn Crouther, is a four-time winner; and Ramzi Musallam, CEO and managing partner at Veritas Capital, and a Perspecta board member, is a three-time winner.
Since we’ve covered both the GDIT-CSRA deal and the Perspecta spinoff in depth, here and in our publications, I’d like to highlight the Orbital ATK purchase timeline.
In September, GovConWire reported that Northrop had agreed to buy Orbital ATK for $9.2 billion, in a move to boost innovation and expand technology offerings. The deal stipulated that Northrop would pay $7.8 billion in cash and assume $1.4 billion in net debt from the Dulles, Va., aerospace and defense contractor. Northrop announced that it would fold Orbital ATK into a fourth business sector when the deal finalized.
  In the announcement, Wes Bush, Northrop’s chairman, CEO and president, and a four-time Wash100 winner, said both companies aim to facilitate competition in critical security domains and broaden capabilities in support of clients’ requirements as well as yield value creation through the combination of both firms’ portfolios and “technology-focused cultures.”
David Thompson, president and CEO of Orbital ATK, and a 2017 Wash100 winner, commented that the transaction would help Orbital ATK seek new opportunities, maintain strong performance on current programs and provide employee career opportunities.
Then, Orbital ATK’s shareholders approved the acquisition in November. Two months later, Kathy Warden, president and COO at Northrop, and a three-time Wash100 winner, told analysts that Blake Larson, COO of Orbital ATK, who brings over three decades of management experience, will lead the future Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems business.
On June 5th, Northrop announced that the Federal Trade Commission had given it antitrust approval to proceed with the deal, paving the way for its closure. As part of the clearance, the FTC stipulated that Northrop must make solid-rocket motors available to competitors on “a non-discriminatory basis,” and establish a firewall between the SRM business and other operations.
This week, Northrop also released updated financial guidance for the year, reflecting projected results including Orbital ATK. The company now projects a cash flow of between $2.3 and $2.6 billion, with approximately $30 billion in sales for 2018.