AE Industrial Partners Makes a Significant Investment in Fire Team Solutions
BOCA RATON, FL and RESTON, VA, November 1, 2021 – AE Industrial Partners, LP (“AEI”), a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Space, Power & Utility Services, and Specialty Industrial markets, announced today that its affiliate AE Industrial Partners Structured Solutions I, LP has made a significant equity and debt investment in Fire Team Solutions (“Fire Team”), a leading provider of mission-critical technology services to the U.S. intelligence community. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Fire Team delivers a broad range of next-generation capabilities in cloud, cyber, and software development to customers across the Department of Defense and intelligence community. Its mission-critical services include secure cloud architecture and analytics; software development and automation; and systems engineering and integration. Fire Team was founded in 2017 by CEO and President Nicholas Harscher, who will continue to lead the company.
“AEI is proud to invest in Fire Team, a veteran-owned business that deeply understands the critical technology needs of the U.S. intelligence community,” said Kirk Konert, a partner at AEI. “We’re eager to support Nick and his team as they continue to develop state of the art technology solutions that seek to combat constantly evolving security threats and better enable customers to harness the intelligence from their data.”
“AEI has a long track record of success in defense and technology, and they intimately understand the unique challenges and opportunities in our business,” said Mr. Harscher. “Having access to AEI’s operational support and industry relationships will be a critical advantage, and we could not have found a better partner to guide us as we continue to grow.”
“Better connected systems lead to better decisions, which is why technology investment is the top priority in the defense and intelligence community today,” said Jeffrey Hart, a principal at AEI. “With AEI’s backing, Fire Team can continue to innovate to meet their customers’ future needs.”
Maynard Cooper served as legal advisor to AEI. Executive Counsel served as legal advisor and The McLean Group served as financial advisor to Fire Team.
ABOUT FIRE TEAM SOLUTIONS
Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Fire Team Solutions is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business that delivers a broad range of premier engineering, development, and programmatic services to customers across the Department of Defense and Intelligence community. For more information please visit www.fireteamsolutions.com.
ABOUT AE INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS
AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in aerospace, defense & government services, space, power generation, and specialty industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from our deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout our target markets. AE Industrial Partners is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment the ILPA Diversity in Action initiative. Learn more at www.aeroequity.com.
About The McLean Group
For over 30 years, The McLean Group has been providing investment banking and financial services offerings focused on the Defense, Government & Intelligence (DGI), Security, Critical Infrastructure, Maritime, Facility Services, Unmanned Systems, and Public Safety markets. Our 60+ professionals bring deep industry experience and relentless execution to every client engagement. We provide solutions that blend financial creativity with operational expertise. Whether we are providing transaction advisory, valuation opinions, or growth capital, our services are unmatched in these core markets. Learn more at www.McLeanLLC.com.
RECENT NEWS
PCC Elections for Private Company Acquisitions: What PE Sponsors, Portfolio Company CFOs, and Their Advisors Need to Know Before Making the Call
Private Company Council (PCC) accounting elections offer PE-backed companies a meaningful opportunity to reduce the scope and cost of purchase price allocation work, but the decision carries long-term implications that extend well beyond the close. Under ASU 2014-02, private companies may amortize goodwill on a straight-line basis over up to 10 years, eliminating the burden of annual impairment testing. Under ASU 2014-18, customer-related intangibles and noncompetition agreements may be subsumed into goodwill rather than separately recognized and valued. Together, these elections can streamline acquisition accounting and lower ongoing audit and compliance costs, but they also introduce restatement risk if the portfolio company later pursues an IPO or is acquired by a public buyer. For PE sponsors, the decision should be evaluated in the context of the fund’s exit thesis and applied consistently across portfolio companies. […]
Revenue Looks Strong on Paper – But ASC 606 Compliance in Construction Tells a Different Story
Revenue looks strong on paper – but ASC 606 compliance in construction tells a different story. In this case study, The McLean Group’s Financial Consulting and Transaction Due Diligence teams walk through a real construction services engagement where a project-level ASC 606 review surfaced a pattern of revenue recognition issues that materially changed the earnings picture. We examine the KPIs that matter most, including cost-to-complete accuracy, change order approval rates, and over and under billing trends, and explain why ASC 606 compliance deserves the same rigor in diligence as working capital analysis or debt-like items. […]
Purchase Price Allocations Under ASC 805: What Every PE-Backed CFO and Deal Team Needs to Know
A purchase price allocation (PPA) is the first post-close workstream that directly affects reported EBITDA, lender covenant calculations, and eventual exit valuation for PE-backed acquirers. Under ASC 805, every acquisition requires the buyer to allocate the total purchase price to identifiable assets and liabilities at fair value — including intangibles that never appeared on the target’s balance sheet. For middle-market deals, identified intangibles commonly represent 30–60% of total consideration, and each carries its own valuation methodology, useful life assumption, and amortization consequence. The McLean Group’s Valuation Advisory team breaks down what every CFO, controller, and deal team needs to know about getting the allocation right the first time. […]