Houlihan Lokey Advises HDT Global

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that HDT Global (HDT), owned by Charlesbank Capital Partners (Charlesbank), has been acquired by Nexus Capital Management, LP (Nexus). The transaction closed on July 9, 2021.

Headquartered in Solon, Ohio, HDT Global, owned by Charlesbank since 2014, is the leading global manufacturer of highly engineered, mission-capable infrastructure solutions across defense, aerospace, and government end markets. Founded in 1937, the company is known for its rapidly deployable and state-of-the-art solutions to meet critical military and emergency needs. Primarily serving the U.S. military and its allies, HDT designs and manufactures a broad and diverse range of highly engineered, integrated expeditionary products and solutions, including tactical shelter systems, environmental control units, chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear (CBRN) filtration and protection systems, heaters and power generators, military vehicles, perimeter protection systems, and robotic solutions. Under Charlesbank’s ownership, HDT made five synergistic acquisitions, boosting its diversity of expeditionary technologies, solutions, and customers and winning multiple complex-systems awards.

Nexus Capital Management is an alternative asset investment management company based in Los Angeles, California, that was founded in 2013. Nexus employs a flexible investment mandate that focuses on long-term value creation by partnering with leading management teams and businesses. HDT’s current management team, including CEO Jim Stephens (who joined from Parker Hannifin in late 2020), will invest alongside Nexus, and Vince Buffa, former HDT CEO, will chair the board of directors.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to HDT. This transaction represents Houlihan Lokey’s 48th ADG transaction in the past 24 months—following on the sale of TenCate Advanced Armor to Agilitas in February 2021, the sale of Rocky Research to Honeywell in October 2020, and the sale of PulseR to The Jordan Company in February 2020—and underscores the firm’s continued global leadership and expertise in defense products and solutions.

Houlihan Lokey’s Aerospace, Defense & Government (ADG) practice within the global Industrials Group is a leading M&A advisor to aerospace, defense, and government services companies. Since the beginning of 2020, the team has closed more than 25 transactions worth nearly $5.6 billion in enterprise value. With a staff of approximately 30 investment bankers in Washington, D.C., London, and Los Angeles, Houlihan Lokey’s ADG practice is among the largest dedicated industry banking groups worldwide. In 2020, the Industrials Group was once again ranked as the No. 1 M&A advisor for all U.S. industrial transactions, according to Refinitiv.

The acquisition of HDT demonstrates the strong and ongoing demand for unique defense platforms of scale and investments from first-time defense financial investors. There has been a resurgence of interest in defense investments throughout 2020 and 2021, with a universally recognized demand for continued defense investments amid the ongoing unstable global security environment. Throughout its ownership history, HDT has successfully diversified products and solutions across a variety of U.S. Department of Defense funding priorities, providing clear visibility and a path to a large defense solutions provider of scale. As demand accelerates for HDT’s products and solutions, HDT remains the leading global provider of highly engineered, mission-capable infrastructure solutions addressing key defense funding priorities.