Qinetiq more than doubles US operations with acquisition of MTEQ

Qinetiq will pay $105m on completion on a cash-free, debt-free basis and an earn-out of up to $20m payable in cash and shares dependent on delivering stretching financial targets over three years.

Based in Virginia, MTEQ employs 360 people and has strong customer relationships, particularly with the US Army, supporting a number of its modernisation priority programmes. The business develops next generation sensing solutions, including integrating outputs from multiple sensors, to provide information that enables operational advantage in the modern battlespace.

In the 12 months to 31 August 2019, it generated $167.4m of revenue, $11.4m of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and $11m of EBITA on an unaudited basis.

QinetiQ’s chief executive officer Steve Wadey, QinetiQ CEO, said: “The acquisition of MTEQ is a significant step towards achieving our ambition to build an integrated global defence and security company, more than doubling the size of our operations in the largest defence and security market in the world.

"MTEQ is a growing business that is thriving because of its ability to apply state-of-the-art sensing technology to enhance information and intelligence that are so critical to modern warfare. I am excited that MTEQ will be joining QinetiQ as its core proposition of rapidly creating new and disruptive capabilities to respond to emerging threats is so well aligned to our own."