U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman has announced the sale of its Federal IT and mission support unit to private equity firm Veritas Capital in a cash transaction worth $3.4 billion. Veritas has said that upon closing, it will combine the newly acquired business with its portfolio company Peraton.
In a statement, Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden said, “This divestiture allows us to drive value and reflects our strategy of focus on growing core businesses where technology and innovation are the key differentiators.”
Northrop Grumman also said that it plans to use the proceeds of the deal to pay down debt and return capital to shareholders via buybacks.