Aerospace & Defense Acquisitions in Michigan

Prime Appearance acquired Immaculate Flight in a stock deal, combining two leading providers of aircraft appearance and detailing services to expand nationwide coverage. The acquisition adds Immaculate Flight’s operations at more than 200 airports and will be integrated and rebranded under the Prime Appearance brand, expanding service coverage in markets including Atlanta, Austin, Seattle, Nashville, South Florida, Southern California, the Bay Area, and throughout Texas.

Albion River has acquired Arotech Corporation from Greenbriar Equity Group. The acquisition adds high-fidelity training & simulation, portable power systems, and advanced electronics manufacturing capabilities to Albion River’s defense and security platform; Arotech will continue to be led by CEO Dean Krutty and remain headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Proteus Enterprises, together with Gladstone Investment Corporation, acquired Ricardo Defense, Inc., an engineering services and systems integration firm headquartered in Troy, Michigan. The transaction is a divestiture by Ricardo plc; Gladstone provided equity and senior secured debt while Proteus will operate and scale the defense-focused business. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Branford Castle Partners, a North American-focused private equity firm, has acquired Testek Solutions, a Wixom, Michigan-based manufacturer of proprietary aviation component testing equipment, from a fund managed by Odyssey Investment Partners. Testek will serve as a platform investment for Branford Castle's Fund II, with existing management, including CEO Bruce DeWitt, remaining in place; financial terms were not disclosed.

ARKA Group, L.P. has completed the acquisition of Maxar’s Radar and Sensor Technology (RST) group, a Ypsilanti, Michigan–based radar and sensor engineering team that supports U.S. government synthetic aperture radar (SAR) programs. The acquisition adds radar, moving-target indication and full‑spectrum geospatial intelligence capabilities to ARKA’s existing space hardware and software offerings, strengthening its mission-focused solutions for U.S. and allied defense customers.

Arlington Capital Partners has acquired Merrill Technologies Group and combined it with Pegasus Steel and Metal Trades to form Keel Holdings (Keel), a vertically integrated defense manufacturing platform. The transaction brings Merrill’s design, machining and fabrication capabilities into Keel to support Navy, Army and Air Force programs and accelerate deliveries for critical DoD programs.

RENK Group acquired L3Harris Technologies' Combat Propulsion Systems business for roughly $400 million in cash and also purchased L3Magnet-Motor GmbH, forming RENK America headquartered in Muskegon, Michigan. The deal expands RENK's U.S. manufacturing footprint and capabilities in armored-vehicle propulsion and hybrid drive solutions while retaining nearly 400 U.S. employees.

Red Cat Holdings signed a definitive agreement to acquire Skypersonic, a developer of caged miniature drones and indoor GPS positioning/software for remote inspections. The acquisition brings Skypersonic's patented hardware, Skyloc software and intellectual property into Red Cat's growing drone platform to expand capability and inspection services across automotive, energy and other industrial markets.

Alpine 4 Technologies, Ltd. entered into a binding LOI to acquire Vayu (U.S.), Inc., a maker of hybrid VTOL autonomous aircraft, in a reverse triangular merger that will make Vayu a wholly owned subsidiary. The deal adds VTOL aircraft, autopilot software and expanded capabilities to Alpine 4's aerospace holdings (complementing Impossible Aerospace) and is intended to accelerate medical delivery, infrastructure inspection and other commercial UAV opportunities; Vayu CEO Daniel Pepper will remain in place.

Randal Bellestri has acquired Models & Tools Holdings, Inc., a Shelby Township, Michigan-based designer and manufacturer of turnkey tooling systems for the aerospace and defense industries. Models & Tools was previously a portfolio company of Altus Capital Partners; Angle Advisors served as the exclusive advisor on the transaction.