GROTON, Conn. and BOCA RATON, Fla., – ThayerMahan Inc. (“ThayerMahan”), a leading maritime technology company providing autonomous marine sensing solutions, announced that it closed on $10 million of new financing from AE Industrial Partners Structured Solutions I, LP (“AEI Structured Solutions”), an affiliate of AE Industrial Partners, LP (“AEI”), a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets.
This represents the first investment out of the new AEI Structured Solutions fund and the 45th announced transaction by AEI since 2015. ThayerMahan will use the capital to accelerate growth through acquisitions and expand operations and research and development. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
ThayerMahan provides government and commercial clients with turn-key autonomous marine solutions using state-of-the-art acoustic and electronic sensors integrated on a variety of host platforms tailored to specific mission criteria. ThayerMahan is at the forefront of the paradigm shift in maritime security, leveraging the rapid acceleration of advancements in robotic miniaturization, globally accessible digital communications, and artificial intelligence to drive down costs and supplement the capabilities of traditional maritime operations. In addition, the Company’s ‘Search as a Service’ offering allows its customers in government, industry, and academia to quickly access the latest technology and get the information they need.
“ThayerMahan’s technology and strong value proposition in maritime domain awareness impressed our firm. We are excited to partner with a world-class team that is uniquely positioned to address an important market need and challenge,” said Kirk Konert, Partner at AEI. “The growing demands for cost-effective autonomous solutions, as well as trends in distributed operations, will only accelerate ThayerMahan’s growth.”
“AEI is the right partner for ThayerMahan at this stage in our development,” said Mike Connor, ThayerMahan’s co-founder and CEO, and retired Vice Admiral of the US Navy. “As we built this company, we assembled a talented group of Sailors, Marines, Soldiers, and Coastguardsmen and combined them with top-flight engineers with experience in shipbuilding, autonomy, and data science to create something unique. Our success to date has also been enabled by forward-leaning customers and venture investors. Now, AEI’s financial backing and experienced management team will help us scale effectively to provide even more value for our customers.”
“We are very excited to partner with Mike and ThayerMahan’s world-class team of engineers, acoustic technicians, and AUV/SUV operators,” said Marc Baliotti, Senior Managing Director at AEI. “ThayerMahan has deep domain expertise with almost half of its team comprised of former members of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, including former senior leaders of the submarine community and undersea surveillance activities. We look forward to leveraging our industry experience and financial resources to support this highly accomplished team as it builds out its product suite and commercial opportunities.”
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati served as legal advisor to ThayerMahan. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as the legal advisor to AEI.
About ThayerMahan
ThayerMahan, Inc. is a maritime technology company dedicated to providing its government and commercial clients with turn-key (including deployment, operations, data gathering and analysis services) autonomous marine solutions using state-of-the-art acoustic and electronic sensors integrated on a variety of host platforms tailored to specific mission criteria. The company is headquartered in Groton, CT with satellite presences in Boston and Washington, DC. For more information, please visit www.thayermahan.com or contact directly at [email protected].
About AE Industrial Partners
AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from our deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout our target markets. Learn more at www.aeroequity.com
