Pasadena Company to Pay $350 Million for Lake Forest Defense Contractor

Pasadena-based Parsons Corp., an engineering and construction firm serving as a U.S. defense contractor, announced Wednesday it has agreed to acquire another defense contractor, Sparta Inc. of Lake Forest and its subsidiaries, for $350 million.

Sparta, which does business as Cobham Analytics Solutions, is a provider of advanced systems engineering, cybersecurity, and mission support services, primarily to the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the intelligence community.

In 2010, Sparta's revenues were $322.7 million, according to the Parsons statement, which said that Sparta has approximately 1,100 employees working in 15 primary offices across the United States, with its largest facilities in Virginia and Alabama.

"By acquiring Sparta, Parsons enhances its ability to offer mission-oriented technical and professional services to new and existing customers in the U.S. national security marketplace," said Parsons Chairman and CEO Chuck Harrington.

The transaction is subject to U.S. government approvals, Parsons said in a statement.

Parsons is an engineering, construction, technical, and management services firm with $2.7 billion in revenue in 2010.

Its U.S. government business unit serves national security customers in technical support, training, and program management.

"By combining Sparta's highly skilled and innovative workforce with Parsons', we are accelerating our strategy of broadening and deepening our services portfolio to our customers and strengthening cybersecurity offerings for potential new customers in key sectors such as critical infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy," Harrington said.

—City News Service