Private Equity Firm J.F. Lehman Completes Acquisition of Mission Microwave
New York City, March 14, 2024--J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO), a middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors, is announced that an investment affiliate has acquired Mission Microwave Technologies, LLC.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cypress, CA, Mission MIcrowave is a leading provider of Solid-State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) and Block Upconverters (BUCs) to the satellite communications market. The company's X, Ku and Ka Band units support critical ground-based, airborne, maritime and space-based applications for government and commercial customers that require high efficiency, reliability and performance. Utilizing advanced gallium nitride (GaN) transistors, unique power combining technology and novel full-system designs, Mission provides the industry's most efficient, lightweight, and compact high-power devices.
"Since its founding, Mission Microwave has rapidly established a market leading position with a product portfolio critical to the performance of satellite communications across a range of applications, from commercial broadband network gateways to mobile tactical terminals deployed in the battlefield. We are excited to partner with the Mission team to build on the Company's exceptional reputation for innovation and technological leadership, particularly with respect to satisfying high power and/or high frequency requirements in size, weight and power (SWaP) efficient packages," said Steve Brooks, Partner with JFLCO.
Mike Friedman, a Managing Director with JFLCO added, "Mission represents an excellent fit with our established investment strategy given its strong positioning with blue-chip customers, differentiated technical performance and proprietary product portfolio across a diverse and expanding array of end markets. We are looking forward to supporting the Company's continued product development and growth initiatives as Mission further positions itself to capitalize on an extremely compelling market opportunity."
JFLCO is partnering with Mission's prior majority shareholders (affiliates of GaAs Labs LLC), founders and management, who will remain material shareholders in the business and continue to lead Mission as the Company pursues the next phase of its growth.
Francis Auricchio, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Mission Microwave commented, "JFLCO represents the perfect partner to support the next stage of our Company's evolution. JFLCO offers a unique combination of deep industry knowledge and relationships, commercial and operational expertise, and substantial capital we will leverage to accelerate our growth, product portfolio expansion and further advance our technological leadership. The entire Mission team is excited to continue to deliver innovative solutions to our customers' complex and ever-changing challenges under JFLCO's sponsorship."
Debt financing in support of the transaction was led by Barings and co-led by PennantPark and SMBC.
Jones Day provided legal counsel to JFLCO. King & Spalding provided government contracts, defense security and international trade advice to JFLCO. KippsDeSanto & Co. served as financial advisor to Mission, and Phillips Lytle provided legal counsel to Mission and its majority equity holders.
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