Commitments underscore strong, continued interest for private investment in national security, aerospace and industrial services sectors

AE Industrial Partners, LP (“AEI”), a private equity firm specializing in national security, aerospace and industrial services, today announced the close of its third flagship private equity fund, AE Industrial Partners Fund III, LP (“Fund III”), with total capital commitments of $1.28 billion.

Reflecting the firm’s strategic focus on its three key target markets, Fund III will make control investments in the critical “toll gates” across the aerospace and defense supply chains and support key industry suppliers as they scale up production to meet ongoing and increased demand from their respective end markets.

Commitments to Fund III came from a diverse mix of institutional investors in the U.S. and around the world, including leading endowments, charitable foundations, public and corporate pensions, financial institutions, funds of funds, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds.

“We are extremely grateful for the support shown by our existing investor pool, as well as the numerous global commitments from new investors who have joined us, expanding and diversifying our investor base,” said Michael Greene, Co-CEO & Managing Partner at AEI. “Over the past several years we have seen a tremendous growth of interest in our target markets from LPs, and we look forward to continuing our work building the next generation of middle market companies in national security, aerospace and industrial services.”

To date, AEI has deployed more than a quarter of Fund III into five platforms and three add-on investments. These include:

• York Space Systems: A leading independent provider of small satellites, satellite components, and turnkey mission operations.
• RedLattice: A pure-play cyber technology company providing full spectrum cyber capabilities for customers in the U.S. national security, defense, and commercial communities.
• Firefly Aerospace: An emerging leader in economical launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services.
• Yingling Aviation: A leading provider of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (“MRO”) and fixed-base operator (“FBO”) services to business aviation and government customers throughout the United States.
• Calca Solutions: A proprietarily sourced specialty chemicals business that sits within several of AEI’s target markets, including specialty industrial, space, aerospace, and defense.

To date, Fund III has offered nearly $870 million of co-investment to Fund III limited partners and other investors.

AEI’s investment approach focuses on identifying companies with differentiated capabilities and market positions and targeting opportunities that provide strong growth potential, with a balance of organic and acquisition-based growth.

“Investors value our team’s decades of experience, specialized industry expertise, and deep network of relationships that extend throughout our target markets,” added David Rowe, Co-CEO & Managing Partner at AEI. “We are also well positioned to take advantage of current geopolitical and macroeconomic trends that have contributed to a significant pipeline of exciting investment opportunities.”

Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to AEI.

About AE Industrial Partners:

AE Industrial Partners is a private investment firm with $6.2 billion of assets under management focused on highly specialized markets including national security, aerospace and industrial services. AE Industrial Partners has completed more than 130 investments in market-leading companies that benefit from its deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and network of relationships across the sectors where the firm invests. With a commitment to driving value creation in partnership with the management teams of its portfolio companies, AE Industrial Partners invests across private equity, venture capital, and aerospace leasing.

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