Photo: ARKA Group

CACI International on Monday said it has agreed to acquire ARKA Group for $2.6 billion in cash, a deal that would make it a major player in high-end imaging payloads for classified satellite programs, complement its ground-based data processing of space-based intelligence collection, and provide an entrée into directed energy and laser warning capabilities.

The acquisition will complement CACI’s sensor portfolio in land, air and sea domains with space sensors for all-domain sensing, add ground-based processing for geospatial intelligence to accompany its signals intelligence capabilities and expertise, CACI officials told investors.

“Our ability to drive end-to-end, multi-int solutions for all potential intelligence gathering missions, that is one of the major compelling reasons for this acquisition,” John Mengucci, CACI’s president and CEO, said on an investor call to outline the acquisition.

Mengucci said ARKA’s space sensing payloads are used in all orbits and consist of electro-optical, infrared and hyperspectral sensors. Their payloads are the “tip of the spear” for the Trump administration’s Golden Dome homeland defense effort and Indo-Pacific operations, which complement CACI’s counter-drone solutions, he said.

The transaction, which has an enterprise value of $2.4 billion including a tax benefit, is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2026. ARKA is a portfolio company of the asset management firm Blackstone, which acquired the business in 2019.

Based in Danbury, Conn., ARKA is growing at a double-digit rate and is expected to generate about $650 million in sales and $145 million in operating income over the next year. Most the company’s work is classified although it does some business related to the Space Development Agency, Mengucci said. Most of ARKA’s contracts, 80 percent, are fixed-price and the rest are cost-plus.

CACI’s investor presentation shows that 50 percent of ARKA’s work is with non-disclosed customers, 14 percent with defense prime contractors and 12 percent each with the intelligence community, Defense Department and others.

ARKA has several franchise contracts worth more than $100 million, a backlog of about $600 million, and about 1,000 employees, around 315 of whom are software engineers and of these, 90 percent hold top secret clearances. Mengucci declined to discuss the contracts given their classified nature. He did say that ARKA is on “almost all EO/IR and hyperspectral constellations.”

CACI officials touted ARKA’s expertise in Agentic artificial intelligence, which refers to the ability of the AI to operate autonomously in designing and optimizing workflows.

“Additionally, ARKA is a first-mover in successfully operationalizing Agentic AI based systems to automate intelligence production and other mission management functions for classified customers,” Mengucci said. CACI plans to leverage ARKA’s Agentic AI capabilities across its portfolio, he said.

ARKA’s sensors and processing capabilities are “high-end” and are designed for “most critical missions,” Mengucci said, highlighting that there is high-barrier to entry for the work it does.

In the space arena, CACI currently supplies optical communications links used on SDA’s satellites, space data processing of SIGINT, space mission management and signals processing for counter-space operations.

CACI said the acquisition will be accretive to its operating margin in fiscal year 2027, which begins in April 2026. The deal is expected to be neutral to adjusted per share operating earnings in FY ’27.

This story was first published by Defense Daily