Raptor said April 12 it had acquired TestVonics, a Peterborough, N.H.-based manufacturer of equipment that is used to test, verify and calibrate a range of air data instruments, as well as airspeed monitors used on rotary and fixed wing aircraft.
Air data test equipment and calibrators are mission-critical pieces of equipment used daily to test and measure key components on all aircraft.
It is Raptor’s third acquisition after Space Electronics LLC of Berlin, Conn., and Sensor Concepts Inc. of Livermore. Terms of the individual deals haven’t been disclosed, though L Squared said that it has invested more than $50 million in Raptor to date.
“Both the initial businesses we acquired, that’s Space and SCI, have had record years from a financial performance standpoint” said Raptor Scientific Chief Executive Derek Coppinger. “The two businesses we had during 2020 out-performed any previous year they had.”
“TestVonics is doing very well also,” he told the Business Journal on April 15.
The New Hampshire-based company started in 1995 as a small repair shop for air data test equipment. Over 25 years later, TestVonics now manufactures a full line of high-precision devices.
The addition of TestVonics to the Raptor portfolio of products further strengthens the existing customer relationships and allows customers to work with one supplier for a number of test and measurement products and services.
TestVonics directly supports the U.S. Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security, NATO Forces, foreign military services and commercial airlines, Raptor said in announcing the acquisition.
Aiming for More
In terms of future acquisitions, the company has “a number in the pipeline that we’re evaluating. We’re searching for good quality organizations” that match specific criteria, according to Coppinger.
“We’ll probably be aiming around the six range” Coppinger said of the total acquisitions targeted. “We’re on our way, for sure.”
He said Raptor’s businesses had been classified as essential and thus had “very minimum impact” from the pandemic. Many of those who could work from home did, while production people were on site.
Raptor Scientific was founded in 2019 by L Squared to consolidate the highly fragmented aerospace and defense testing and measurement market. L Squared is currently the majority investor in Raptor.
“We’re very happy with where we are in the short period of time, just over a year plus,” Coppinger said.
$50 Million
“We have invested over $50M of equity in the company (Raptor) to date. Our firm has reserved capital to support a continuation of the consolidation strategy. Raptor Scientific has a deep pipeline of potential acquisition candidates that the company is vetting,” Sean Barrette, an L Squared partner, told the Business Journal on April 16.
L Squared says on its website it “seeks to make long-term investments in leading growth companies that operate in targeted sectors: technology-enabled services, industrial technology, and education.”
The firm was founded in 2014 by Chicago Growth Partners alumni Rob Healy and Jeff Farrero.
