M&A Deal Summary

Enlightenment Capital, Veritas Capital, The Carlyle Group and Manulife Investment Management Acquire SolAero

On September 17, 2014, private equity firm Enlightenment Capital, private equity firm Veritas Capital, private equity firm The Carlyle Group and mezzanine finance firm Manulife Investment Management acquired renewable energy company SolAero from EMCORE for 150M USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Enlightenment Capital’s 1st, Veritas Capital’s 1st, The Carlyle Group’s 5th and Manulife Investment Management’s 1st transaction in the Renewable Energy sector.
  • This is Enlightenment Capital’s , Veritas Capital’s 23rd, The Carlyle Group’s 118th and Manulife Investment Management’s 3rd largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Enlightenment Capital’s 7th, Veritas Capital’s 15th, The Carlyle Group’s 258th and Manulife Investment Management’s 19th transaction in the United States.
  • This is Enlightenment Capital’s 1st, Veritas Capital’s 1st, The Carlyle Group’s 1st and Manulife Investment Management’s 1st transaction in New Mexico.
Investment Fate
  • SolAero was sold to a publicly-traded strategic buyer in 2021 for 80M USD.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2014-09-17
Target SolAero
Sector Renewable Energy
Buyer(s) Enlightenment Capital
Veritas Capital
The Carlyle Group
Manulife Investment Management
Sellers(s) EMCORE
Deal Type Divestiture
Deal Value 150M USD

Target

SolAero

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
SolAero is a manufacturer of highly efficient, radiation-hard solar cells, Coverglass Interconnected Cells (CICs), and solar panels for space power applications. Since 2001, SolAero products have powered 160 successful space missions with zero on-orbit failures. SolAero Technologies was founded in 1998 and is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Buyer(S) 4

Buyer

Enlightenment Capital

Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States
Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 2012
Size Middle-Market
Type Sector Focused
DESCRIPTION

Enlightenment Capital is a private investment firm that provides flexible capital solutions and strategic support to middle-market businesses in the Aerospace, Defense, Government & Technology (ADG&T) sector. The firm invests in equity (minority and control), senior debt, and mezzanine debt. Enlightenment Capital was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 7 of 33
Sector (Renewable Energy) 1 of 1
Type (Divestiture) 1 of 1
State (New Mexico) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 7 of 33
Year (2014) 4 of 5
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 1
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-06-12 Pixia

Herndon, Virginia, United States

Pixia Corp. is a developer of high-performance, big-data access software solutions. Pixia was founded in 1999 and is based in Herndon, Virginia.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-12-04 The Diplomat Group

Annapolis, Maryland, United States

The Diplomat Group is a provider of passenger and cargo aircraft charter services to the private, commercial, and government sectors. The Diplomat Group was founded in 1981 and is based in Annapolis, Maryland.

Buy -
Buyer

Veritas Capital

New York, New York, United States
Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1992
PE ASSETS 40.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Veritas Capital is a private equity investment firm that targets investments in defense, aerospace, government services, media/telecommunications, consumer products, and specialty manufacturing companies. Veritas generally partners with management when pursuing investments. Prospective transaction situations include buyouts, growth capital investments, and leveraged recapitalizations. Veritas Capital was established in 1992 and is based in New York City.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 15 of 41
Sector (Renewable Energy) 1 of 1
Type (Divestiture) 6 of 19
State (New Mexico) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 15 of 40
Year (2014) 2 of 2
Size (of disclosed) 23 of 23
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-09-02 BeyondTrust

Johns Creek, Georgia, United States

BeyondTrust is a provider of Privileged Access Management (PAM) software solutions, empowering organizations to secure and manage privileges across passwords, endpoints, and access while enhancing control and visibility. BeyondTrust was founded in 1985 and is based in Johns Creek, Georgia.

Buy $310M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-11-05 CRGT

Reston, Virginia, United States

CRGT, Inc. is a full life-cycle IT services provider for the Federal Government, offering customers agile software development, data analytics, and cyber security & infrastructure support.

Sell -
Buyer

The Carlyle Group

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1987
PE ASSETS 435.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION
Carlyle's corporate headquarters on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.
Carlyle's corporate headquarters on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.

The Carlyle Group is a global investment firm that pursues private equity, credit, and real estate investments worldwide. Carlyle's private equity practice practice pursues buyouts, strategic minority equity investments, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, and growth capital financings. With offices in 19 countries, Carlyle can easily target opportunities throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East/North Africa and Latin America. Broad sectors of interest include aerospace, defense, automotive and transportation, consumer, retail, energy and power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology services, business services, telecommunications and media. The Carlyle Group was formed in 1987 and is based in Washington DC.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 500 of 743
Sector (Renewable Energy) 5 of 7
Type (Divestiture) 47 of 72
State (New Mexico) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 258 of 349
Year (2014) 21 of 31
Size (of disclosed) 118 of 137
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-09-11 Ecovyst

Malvern, Pennsylvania, United States

Ecovyst is a worldwide producer of specialty inorganic performance chemicals, high-end catalysts and engineered glass beads for the consumer, oil & gas, transportation safety, specialty plastics and industrial markets. Ecovyst is based in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-09-18 Apex Parks Group

Aliso Viejo, California, United States

Apex Parks Group is an entertainment services provider. Apex Parks consists of 14 family entertainment centers include park locations under Boomers!, Malibu Grand Prix, Mountasia, and SpeedZone franchise brands.

Buy -
Buyer

Manulife Investment Management

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Mezzanine Finance Firm
Founded 1998
Size Large
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Manulife Investment Management is a private investment group that provides mezzanine as well as non-controlling equity capital to middle-market businesses. Manulife Investment's target investment size is $10 to $50 million per transaction. The Group prefers opportunities located in the US. Manulife Investment Management was established in 1998 and maintains offices in Boston and New York City.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 20 of 26
Sector (Renewable Energy) 1 of 1
Type (Divestiture) 3 of 3
State (New Mexico) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 19 of 24
Year (2014) 2 of 3
Size (of disclosed) 3 of 3
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-09-02 Compuware

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Compuware Corp. empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by taking full advantage of their mainframe investments. Compuware Corp. does this by delivering innovative software that enables IT, professionals, with mainstream skills to develop, deliver and support mainframe applications with ease and agility. Our modernized solutions uniquely automate mainframe work, integrate into a cross-platform DevOps toolchain and measure software delivery quality, velocity and efficiency.

Buy $2.5B
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-12-23 dlhBOWLES

Canton, Ohio, United States

dlhBOWLES is a supplier of innovative engineered plastic solutions to many of the largest corporations and most recognizable brands around the globe in the automotive and consumer products industries. The company designs and manufactures automotive products for camera and sensor wash systems, windshield washer systems, powertrain, chassis, and sunroof products. It also provides solutions for a wide array of consumer products in the areas of consumer sprays, plumbing, irrigation, and other diverse applications. dlhBOWLES was founded in 1961 and is based in Canton, Ohio.

Buy -

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

EMCORE

Alhambra, California, United States
Category Company
Founded 1984
Sector Semiconductors
Employees350
Revenue 98M USD (2023)
DESCRIPTION

EMCORE is a provider of compound semiconductor-based products for the fiber optics markets. EMCORE’s Fiber Optics business segment provides optical components, subsystems and systems for high-speed telecommunications, Cable Television (CATV) and Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) networks, as well as products for satellite communications, video transport and specialty photonics technologies for defense and homeland security applications. EMCORE was founded in 1984 and is based in Alhambra, California.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 3
Sector (Renewable Energy) 1 of 1
Type (Divestiture) 1 of 3
State (New Mexico) 1 of 2
Country (United States) 1 of 3
Year (2014) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 3
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2007-04-27 Opticomm

Alhambra, California, United States

Opticomm Corp. specializes in the field of fiber optic video, audio and data networking for the commercial, governmental and industrial sectors.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2015-01-05 EMCORE - Tunable Laser Product Lines

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Sell $18M
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