Noblis Buys McKean Defense, Affiliates; Baird’s Jean Stack Comments

Noblis has purchased McKean Defense and its two affiliates – Cabrillo Technologies and Mikros Systems – for an undisclosed sum as part of efforts to broaden its impacts in the defense mission area and deliver new technologies and capabilities to customers.

Amr ElSawy, president and CEO of Noblis and a two-time Wash100 awardee, and the company’s board of trustees will govern McKean Defense, which will run as a wholly owned subsidiary of Noblis, the company said Tuesday.

Glenn Hickok, vice president of defense mission area at Noblis and a U.S. Navy veteran, will assume additional responsibilities as president of the McKean subsidiary. Joseph Carlini will step down as CEO of McKean and help with the integration process as a strategic adviser.

Philadelphia-based McKean Defense is an employee-owned company focused on integrating information technology across shipboard systems and deploying shipboard technologies. The transaction came just months after McKean completed its acquisition of Mikros Systems.

Baird served as McKean’s exclusive financial adviser in the transaction, while Wolf Den Associates exclusively advised Noblis on the deal’s financial aspect.

“The McKean/Noblis transaction demonstrates the reprioritization of the Navy and its importance in addressing the emergence of capabilities from near-peer threats. McKean Defense has a strong reputation working with surface ship readiness that is second-to-none,” Jean Stack, managing director of Baird and a previous Wash100 Award recipient, told GovCon Wire.

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