Private-equity firm partners with former LGS executives to invest in technology companies

By Marjorie Censer / July 1, 2021 at 10:04 AM

Private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners said this week it has teamed with the former chief executive of LGS Innovations as well as other former LGS executives to create MissionX, tasked with investing in differentiated national security technology companies.

The executives involved are Kevin Kelly, who led LGS before it was sold to CACI International two years ago, Robert Gallegos, who served as LGS' chief operating officer, and Chris McCall, who was LGS' chief of staff.

"MissionX will focus on identifying a government technology platform with strong underlying technical capabilities, a technology solutions business model, and a diverse mix of products and services," Madison Dearborn and MissionX said in a statement. "It will target prospective platform companies that are active in high-growth mission areas such as Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cybersecurity, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR); Defense Electronics; Electronic Warfare; Multi-INT Data Fusion and Analytics; Position, Navigation and Timing; Software-Based Modeling and Simulation; Space Photonics and High-End Communications; and Space Superiority."

In an interview with Inside Defense, Kelly said the team is seeking a company with at least $100 million in sales.

"We need to be able to generate enough profit to reinvest in the" research and development, he said.

A prospective platform needs to be "capable of or is already generating their own intellectual property," Kelly added.

He noted the mergers and acquisitions market is very active.

"We're going to be competing with a larger number of competitors and the price is likely to be higher," Kelly said.

He told Inside Defense MissionX doesn't have a set deadline for finding the right platform.

"We're committed for the long term," he said, adding it will likely take six to 12 months.

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