Key Takeaways
- • Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) led a $1 billion private financing supporting the combination of Analogic Corporation with the Security Enterprise Solutions, Ports & Borders and Industrial Automation businesses of Leidos Holdings, according to HedgeCo.Net, which reported the announcement on October 12.
- • The combination, which closed earlier in October, creates a larger security imaging and detection company serving airports, ports, borders and critical infrastructure.
- • BXCI acted as lead lender and joint lead arranger alongside HPS, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, a mix of two large private credit platforms and two major banks.
- • Post-close ownership of the combined Analogic business is split with Altaris affiliates holding 58.5% and Leidos retaining 41.5%, per Leidos's filing on the deal.
- • The deal reflects private credit managers' continued push into security, defense-adjacent and industrial borrowers as they diversify away from software-heavy books.
Summary
Blackstone Credit & Insurance said on October 12 that it is leading a $1 billion financing supporting the combination of Analogic Corporation with the Security Enterprise Solutions, Ports & Borders and Industrial Automation businesses of Leidos Holdings. The combination closed earlier in October and creates a larger security imaging and detection company serving airports, ports, borders and critical infrastructure. Analogic, headquartered in Salem, New Hampshire, is backed by Altaris, a healthcare-focused investment firm that manages $10 billion of equity capital.
BXCI served as lead lender and joint lead arranger alongside HPS, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. According to Leidos's filing on the transaction, the combined business operates as Analogic, with Altaris affiliates holding a 58.5% stake and Leidos retaining 41.5%. Brad Colman, global head of healthcare investing and sponsor coverage for private credit strategies at BXCI, said the financing was designed to help create a scaled, integrated leader in security detection and reflects the firm's ability to provide large-scale, flexible capital.
The lender mix, with two large private credit platforms working alongside two major banks, illustrates how sponsor financings of this size are increasingly being split between direct lenders and bank balance sheets. The structure is also typical of corporate carve-outs: Leidos keeps a significant minority interest and continued exposure to the upside of the combined business, while the sponsor takes control and brings in a lending group that can fund the transaction quickly and privately.
For direct lenders, a $1 billion ticket backing a combination with a large installed base in aviation and border security fits demand for larger, more defensive loans. For allocators, the deal adds to evidence that private credit managers are moving toward security, defense-adjacent and industrial borrowers as they diversify away from software-heavy books. It also underscores the competitive position of the largest platforms, which can lead billion-dollar financings and set terms on transactions that once would have gone straight to the syndicated loan market.
BXCI served as lead lender and joint lead arranger alongside HPS, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. According to Leidos's filing on the transaction, the combined business operates as Analogic, with Altaris affiliates holding a 58.5% stake and Leidos retaining 41.5%. Brad Colman, global head of healthcare investing and sponsor coverage for private credit strategies at BXCI, said the financing was designed to help create a scaled, integrated leader in security detection and reflects the firm's ability to provide large-scale, flexible capital.
The lender mix, with two large private credit platforms working alongside two major banks, illustrates how sponsor financings of this size are increasingly being split between direct lenders and bank balance sheets. The structure is also typical of corporate carve-outs: Leidos keeps a significant minority interest and continued exposure to the upside of the combined business, while the sponsor takes control and brings in a lending group that can fund the transaction quickly and privately.
For direct lenders, a $1 billion ticket backing a combination with a large installed base in aviation and border security fits demand for larger, more defensive loans. For allocators, the deal adds to evidence that private credit managers are moving toward security, defense-adjacent and industrial borrowers as they diversify away from software-heavy books. It also underscores the competitive position of the largest platforms, which can lead billion-dollar financings and set terms on transactions that once would have gone straight to the syndicated loan market.
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