WASHINGTON — Cubic Corporation has beefed up its C4ISR and PED portfolios by buying GATR Technologies, Inc., and TeraLogics, LLC, Cubic announced Monday.
San Diego-based Cubic has agreed to pay $232.5 million for GATR, which makes portable, inflatable SATCOM and C4ISR terminals. Huntsville, Alabama-based GATR's signature product, an inflatable satellite antenna system, helps reduce a Marine Expeditionary Unit satellite communications load-out from more than 25,000 pounds and almost 2,600 cubic feet to just 3,000 pounds and 189 cubic feet. Housed in an inflatable ball, a 2.4-meter antenna and terminal weighs less than 200 pounds total and can fit easily in two portable hard cases.
Strategically, Cubic is trying to strengthen its position in communications and intelligence, Bill Toti, president of Cubic Global Defense, told Defense News Monday.
"We haven't been in the satellite communications business yet. But it made great sense for us to do so, because we're already in the tactical networking business," he said.
GATR's satellite communications antennas can be checked as luggage on a commercial flight, instead of requiring a truck that requires military transport, Toti said.
"It was a no-brainer," he said of acquiring GATR. "This is the best capability in the world for tactical satellite communications, no question about it."
Multiple companies bid on GATR, and Toti said he is thrilled that Cubic won out. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016.
Cubic also acquired TeraLogics for $39 million. The Ashburn, Virginia-based company specializes in processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED), particularly analysis and delivery software for real-time full motion video.
Toti praised TeraLogics for being as cutting edge in the full motion video world as GATR is in satellite communications. As Cubic looks to build end-to-end communications capabilities, TeraLogics' applications complement GATR's satellite antennas, he said.
With the acquisitions, Cubic's total employees will grow from 8,000 to around 8,100. TeraLogics will change buildings, but will remain based in the Dulles corridor outside of Washington, D.C., he said. GATR will remain based in Huntsville, he said.
"We do a lot of acquisitions, and one of our rules is, we don't screw with the culture of the company we're acquiring," he said. "We're not going to ruin the thing that made them great by trying to insert our culture on theirs."
Cubic ranked 81st in Defense News' 2015 list of the top 100 global defense companies, with 57 percent of its $1.4 billion in revenues stemming from defense contracts.
Email: aclevenger@defensenews.com
Twitter: @AndClev
