Latest acquisition puts Saalex in a new league of federal contractors
Pacific Coast Business TimesĀ | April 4, 2022
Pacific Coast Business TimesĀ | April 4, 2022
By Jorge Mercado Monday, April 4th, 2022 | Pacific Coast Business Times
Camarillo-based Saalex Solutions graduated from its status as a small business a couple of years ago, leaving it unable to bid on the type of federal contracts that helped the company grow over the past two decades.
Now, the company has shifted focus, with acquisitions like Rhode Island-based Netsimco ā in a $30 million deal announced March 16 ā to help it compete on a larger stage.
āWe saw the need to grow rapidly because we were basically a small large business, and we need to be a larger large business in order to be able to afford the resources necessary to compete against Northrop Grumman and the Boeings of the world,ā Saalex CFO Randy Wheeler told the Business Times. āThis growth through acquisition was important in order to continue the growth of the company and propel us to the next level.ā
Saalex is an information technology company for government and defense clients, founded in 1999 by CEO Travis Mack.
The company’s acquisition of Netsimco will allow it to reach annual recurring revenue of $100 million. For context, Wheeler said the company generated about $5 million in revenue in 2010, and has shown āconsistent growthā to reach the $100 million mark.
In a sense, Wheeler said, Saalex has been āthe victim of its own success.ā In 2017, he recalled the team discussing a large contract the company held that would be up for re-competing within the next year.
āIf we didn’t win that contract, it would be devastating to the company,ā Wheeler said.
Saalex put together a strategy to āaggressivelyā bid for new contracts, in case it needed to replace the large one that was up for renewal. Instead, the company won the re-compete on the large contract, and also won nine new contracts in a row, which took it out of the category of companies that can compete for federal contracts set aside for small businesses.
Some of the contracts Saalex won in 2017 and 2018 will come up again soon, and Saalex will no longer be able to bid on them as the primary contractor.
That is why since 2019, Saalex’s main focus is to grow through mergers and acquisitions.
āThere needs to be apprehension in anything that you do, nothing is guaranteed,ā Mack said. āBut I’m jazzed because honestly I think the folks that are behind me and Randy are actually better at executing the strategy than Randy and myself are.ā
Wheeler said after the Netsimco acquisition, Saalex will be building up its reserves for another acquisition ā hopefully one more within āthe next year or so,ā he said. āIn the aerospace and defense vertical, size and scale gives you advantages. You have resources that you can utilize in order to put yourself in a position to bid more opportunities or maybe position yourself correctly,ā Mack said. āYou don’t just wake up and become efficient at bidding and proposing. It requires resources, and scale gives you those additional resources that you need to compete.ā
The goal each year is to win enough contracts to replace the backlog left from the previous year, Wheeler said, adding that the company āburned offā about $100 million since last year, something it is looking to make up in fiscal year 2022.
Saalex now has about a dozen active contracts. Its acquisition of Netsimco will bring the company to around 700 employees nationwide, as Mack confirmed the company’s goal is to keep everyone from Netsimco on during the transition.
A few days after announcing the acquisition, Saalex also announced the promotion of Wheeler to executive vice president, along with his current CFO position. Wheeler has been with the company since 2004 and described himself as the āglass half-emptyā person, while Mack is the āglass half-fullā type of personality.
āRandy and I have been together for a long, long, long time and we do disagree. He tells me the unvarnished truth and sometimes you don’t want to hear that,ā Mack said. āBut I think what I’ve been able to do is to listen, and we’re always able to get to the middle of the road, which is important. He comes from a different perspective than I come from, and both perspectives are needed.ā
Robert Bezduch was promoted to president of Saalex, a position Mack held for 22 years.
The importance of this move, Mack said, is that it allows him to relinquish that role of day-to-day operations, āso we can strategically look at what we need to be, where we need to be and how we are going to get there over the next three to five years.ā
Camarillo, CA, (March 16, 2022) ā Saalex Corporation today announced several executive leadership changes, Travis Mack will become the Chairman & CEO, Randy Wheeler will be promoted to Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Robert Bezduch will be promoted to President of Saalex. Mack, who founded Saalex, was previously President and CEO, Wheeler was VP/Chief Financial Officer and Bezduch was formerly the Director of Program Operations. The company also named Thomas Rossi Chief Operating Officer of Netsimco.
The changes were made to ensure Saalex meets the increased management demands it is experiencing with its tremendous growth. Yesterday, the company announced it acquired NetSimco, significantly expanding the size of the organization. Saalex now has close to 700 employees in offices around the world.
āSaalex is growing at an incredible pace, and it is paramount that we grow our executive leadership team as well to continue driving the growth of a $100 million dollar organization,ā said Travis Mack, Chairman & CEO, Saalex Corporation. āI have tremendous confidence in promoting Robert to President of Saalex, as he is uniquely skilled in dealing with both people, technical, and programmatic matters. He will concentrate on the day-to-day management needs of the company, which will enable Randy and I to allocate more time to strategic and tactical growth planning. This is essential as Saalex continues its journey to becoming one of the largest employee-owned government and DoD contractors in the industry.ā
āI am very excited and thankful for this opportunity and appreciate Travis entrusting and believing in me to run this organization,ā said Bezduch. āIāve loved this company from the first day I was hired on, because of the people and corporate culture. We have a fantastic team of Directors that truly care about the Saalex mission, and have incredible work ethics. Our recent acquisition certainly presents new challenges and opportunities. I am confident that this team will rise to the occasion as always, and I look forward to the great things we can achieve.ā
Bezduch, who has been employed by Saalex for five years, has nearly 30 years of program management experience and over 30 years of combined experience as an active duty Army intelligence officer and federal contractor. Wheeler who has been extremely instrumental in the companyās growth has guided the companyās financial needs since 2004.
About Saalex Corporation
Saalex Corp. is a federal services contractor providing core competencies in the areas of test range operations and management, engineering and logistics services, cybersecurity, and IT services. Founded in 1999 by Travis Mack, Saalex Corp is a service-disabled veteran-owned business headquartered in Camarillo, CA. Learn more at www.saalex.com.
Contact:
Neal Stein
Technology PR Solutions
nealjstein@techprsolutions.com
(321) 473-7407
Acquisition Greatly Expands Saalexās IT Core Capabilities in the DoD Space
Camarillo, CA, and Middletown, RI (March 15, 2022) ā Saalex Corporation today announced the acquisition of Middletown, RI-based Netsimco, a leading IT services and tech support provider. The transaction significantly scales Saalexās offerings and provides it with expanded capabilities in the aerospace and DoD markets. The acquisition of Netsimco, a $30 million company, will grow Saalex to a $100 million annual revenue organization. Specific financial terms of the transaction are not being released.
Netsimco was founded in 1999, and has grown to become a leading provider of information technology support, IT services, and past performance for aerospace and defense organizations. The company has a long history of providing advanced technology solutions – on-time and under budget – to its military and government customers.
āThis acquisition is part of a long-term growth strategy we have put in place to significantly grow our business to become one of the largest employee-owned IT services providers in the DoD space,ā said Travis Mack, President and CEO, Saalex Corporation. āNetsimco has unrivaled credibility with information tech support and past performance for its defense customers, and we are thrilled to bring that expertise and those capabilities into Saalex.ā
Under terms of the transaction, Netsimco becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Saalex, and its executive leadership will stay on with the company through the transition. Employees of Netsimco will be able to participate in the companyās employee-ownership plan. No staffing reductions are planned.
About Netsimco
Formed in 1999, Netsimco is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business specializing in warfare analysis, information technology, war game support, and advanced modeling and simulation. Netsimco has extensive experience in Operational Level of War training and education. In the past six years, Netsimco has experienced 20% annual growth and has over 180 employees in four states.
About Saalex Corporation
Saalex Corp. is a federal services contractor providing core competencies in the areas of test range operations and management, engineering and logistics services, cybersecurity, and IT services. Founded in 1999 by Travis Mack, Saalex Corp is a service-disabled veteran-owned business headquartered in Camarillo, CA. Learn more at www.saalex.com.
Contact:
Neal Stein
Technology PR Solutions
nealjstein@techprsolutions.com
(321) 473-7407
Camarillo, CA and Rockledge, FL (February 28, 2022) ā Saalex Corporationās Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 3 (ELVIS 3) team is playing a key role in the upcoming launch of a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather satellite. The ELVIS 3 team is assisting NASA with the launch of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) ā T, currently scheduled for March 1, 2022, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NOAA’s network of weather satellites is poised to receive an update as the agency teams up with NASA to launch this new spacecraft, to be used to identify wildfires and forecast drought in the western United States. This is the third installment in the GOES-R series of satellites, which are designed to provide improved images and atmospheric observations, as well as real-time mapping of lightning activity and monitoring of space weather.
ELVIS 3 has helped NASA mission management and the mission integration team for the past few years, and has been assisting with readiness evaluations in preparation for launch. The launch team will receive engineering, programmatic, and technical assistance from the Saalex support group.
āSo many of the space missions we assist NASA with involve the exploration and study of the cosmos, but this time, weāre helping to better understand environmental conditions here on Earth,ā said Travis Mack, President and CEO, Saalex. āItās a far different perspective, but just as important as any space launch in which we have been involved. And as always, I am deeply proud of our ELVIS 3 team and its support for this mission.ā
After launch, GOES-T will be known as GOES-18, and will offer continuous images and atmospheric data for the Western Hemisphere, real-time lightning detection and mapping, solar imaging and space weather observations. GOES-18 will enable meteorologists to detect and anticipate local weather occurrences that impact public safety, such as wildfires, thunderstorms, tornadoes, fog, hurricanes, flash floods, and other severe weather across the western contiguous United States. It will also monitor Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean.
About Saalex Solutions
Saalex Solutions, the Federal services division of Saalex Corporation, supports Department of Defense agencies to include Navy, Army, Air Force, and NASA. It provides core competencies in the areas of test range operations and management, engineering and logistics services, cybersecurity, and information technology services. Founded in 1999 by Travis Mack, Saalex Solutions is a service-disabled veteran-owned business headquartered in Camarillo, CA.
Learn more at www.saalex.com.
Contact:
Neal Stein
Technology PR Solutions
nealjstein@techprsolutions.com
(321) 473-7407
San Fernando Valley Business Journal | February 28, 2022