Applied Composites acquires Alliance Spacesystems

Lake Forest, California-based Applied Composites Holdings LLC has acquired Los Alamitos, California-based Alliance Spacesystems LLC, a vertically integrated provider of high-performance composite structures and assemblies for the commercial, civil, and government satellite market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

This marks the fifth acquisition of the Applied Composites platform created by AE Industrial Partners LP (AEI), a private equity firm specializing in aerospace, defense & government services, power generation, and specialty industrial markets.

Alliance offers a full spectrum of composite structure capabilities for the satellite industry, from engineering to manufacturing, integration, and final qualification testing. The company is a premier supplier of high-precision payload structures for satellite buses, antenna reflectors, booms and support structures used for a wide variety of military and commercial applications. Alliance is a qualified supplier for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Ball Aerospace, among others. The company also creates high-strength composite structures for launch vehicles, as well as produces high quality, affordable rigid composite solar array substrates. Alliance provides end-to-end composite manufacturing services through its state-of-the-art facilities in Los Alamitos and San Diego, California.

“We are excited to add Alliance, with its well-respected space heritage and its extensive line of composite products and services, to our growing company,” said David Horner, CEO of Applied Composites. “Interest and investment in the space industry is at an all-time high, and we look forward to working closely with the Alliance team as we look for ways to meet this growing demand and better serve our customers.”

“This is a highly strategic combination that significantly strengthens our market position and value proposition,” said Rick Byrens, General Manager of Alliance. “Together, we possess a unique set of capabilities and skills that will help us to accelerate our growth and continue to deliver the quality and complexity that our customers demand.”

“When we formed Applied Composites, our goal was to create a one-stop shop for complex composites, offering unparalleled products and services to the aerospace, defense and space industries,” said Kirk Konert, Partner at AEI. “With the addition of Alliance, we have taken another step in building a uniquely diverse and vertically integrated composites platform.”

Applied Composites was formed through AEI’s acquisitions of AC&A, Applied Composites Engineering (ACE), Applied Composite Structures (ACS), formerly known as EnCore Composite Structures, and San Diego Composites (SDC).