Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc., one of the nation’s largest aerial firefighting companies, has acquired FMS Aerospace. FMS, based in Huntsville, Alabama, is a turnkey provider of airframe modification and integration solutions for government and commercial customers including instrumentation, flight testing and airworthiness certification. The consideration for the transaction was $17.51 million in equity, with an additional contingent equity earn-out consideration of up to $3.09 million.
“Having partnered with the team at FMS on our Multi-Mission Aircraft (MMA) program, which supports our high-resolution surveillance, mapping, software and intelligence operations contracts, we appreciate their strong engineering, modification and manufacturing capabilities,” commented Sam Davis, Bridger’s chief executive officer. “Bringing FMS into the Bridger family will bring together two experienced teams and add additional critical capabilities in house to allow us to continue to grow in mission critical areas including emergency air services, aerospace modifications and defense systems engineering.”
Jesse Whitfield, chief executive officer of FMS added, “Bridger provides the physical facilities, qualified personnel and other resources we need to grow our business. We expect that the operational synergies will ultimately allow us to win larger contracts than either company can bid alone.”
Transaction Highlights
The FMS transaction is an equity-only deal with a total value of $20.6 million with restricted common stock vesting in equal parts over a two-year period. It includes $17.51 million of restricted common stock issued at close with an additional $3.09 million to be paid pro-rata over two years, upon the satisfaction of an EBITDA target. For the full year ending December 31, 2023, FMS generated $10.3 million of revenue and net income of $2.5 million. FMS had approximately $2.0 million of cash and no debt at year end 2023.
