Acorn Growth expands portfolio with acquisition of Black Sage Technologies

An Oklahoma based private equity firm, Acorn Growth, acquired Black Sage Technologies, based in Boise, Idaho. The acquisition out of the company’s third fund represents a continuance of the strategy to invest in aerospace, defense, and intelligence companies. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Acorn Growth did file paperwork with the SEC…

An Oklahoma based private equity firm, Acorn Growth, acquired Black Sage Technologies, based in Boise, Idaho. The acquisition out of the company’s third fund represents a continuance of the strategy to invest in aerospace, defense, and intelligence companies.

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Acorn Growth did file paperwork with the SEC in an LLC referred to as Black Sage Acquisitions, LLC with a filing amount of $7.65 million. This filing was what alerted SPN to the deal. Moreover, it provided an interesting intersection of the importance of defense-related companies to the Midwest’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. With Air Force Bases covering many key markets in the Silicon Prairie, including Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City, SPN decided to write a short blurb about the announcement, hoping to have more defense-related startup news to cover in the future.

Black Sage is the creator of Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) solutions. Specifically, the firm identifies, classifies, tracks, and defeats UAS threats for military, government, law enforcement, and civil applications.

According to the managing partner of Acorn Growth Companies, Rick Nagel: “The acquisition of Black Sage strengthens our already robust defense portfolio of businesses focused on protecting the interest of the United States and its allies. Black Sage is truly ahead of its competition in this highly fragmented space, already delivering integrated identification and defeat services across the globe. We see significant growth potential for this market segment.”

Black Sage was founded in 2014 and has produced a wide variety of solutions for the C-UAS market. The CEO, Dave Romero was excited by the prospect of increasing access to capital and the network represented by Acorn Growth: “The depth and expertise of the Acorn Growth Companies’ team is impressive. Acorn’s network and reputation combined with Black Sage’s technology and performance history is a powerful combination for delivering safety and security to a broader market.”

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In addition to Black Sage, Acorn recently announced another recent acquisition – Robbins-Gioia, a company that helps improve performance and readiness for the federal government. According to its website, Acorn Growth has a portfolio that includes Paul Fabs, Tods Aerospace, Integrated Composites, Unitech Composites and Structures, North Coast Composites, and AGC Aerocomposites.

For more information check out Acorn Growth’s website at www.acorngrowthcompanies.com.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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