As investment in space blasts off, Cognizant Technology Solutions announced it will acquire Belcan, LLC for $1.3 billion in cash and stock. Belcan provides engineering research and development (ER&D) services, employing over 6,500 engineers and technical consultants.
“Belcan is an established player in ER&D that provides mission-critical digital engineering services for a long-standing customer base across the commercial aerospace, defense, space, marine and industrial verticals,” according to the deal’s press release. “Belcan’s deep engineering capabilities and domain expertise across the aerospace & defense market will be complemented by Cognizant’s scale and own multi-decade digital engineering expertise, providing Belcan’s blue-chip client roster access to our advanced AI, Cloud and Data technologies.”
One of the combine company’s verticals is the booming space industry, which includes human travel, satellites, and robotic exploration off earth, as well as ground stations, equipment, and the extensive on-earth support for space activity. Innovation in this area has attracted booming investment in this emerging sector.
As of 2022, the global space economy had grown to $546 billion, including commercial space, government funding, and investment capital, representing 8% year over year growth. During the first half of 2022 alone, 1,022 spacecraft were launched, which is more than the combined number launched during the first 52 years of the space age (1957-2009), combined.
The U.S. government remains the largest space spender by far, with an annual budget higher than all other governments’ combined. Other nations that consistently launch are China, Russia, the European Space Agency, India, Iran, Israel and Japan.
Governmental spending, however, makes up less than a quarter of space activity – commercial space activity now leads the way. In fact, over 90% of spacecraft today are commercial. “The space industry has seen an unprecedented period of rapid innovation in recent years, forcing space-focused businesses to keep pace with demand for increased capabilities and resiliency in low Earth orbit (LEO) infrastructure,” according the Belcan. Cognizant intends to capitalize on this growth.
According to DealPulse’s M&A database, which harnesses both AI and attorneys to digest the granular deal points of publicly announced transactions, Belcan is advised by Kirkland & Ellis while Cognizant is advised by Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
