04/09/2021
eureka is pleased to provide additional insights into its leadership consulting support to Fortego in its recent acquisition by BlueHalo;
BlueHalo recently announced the acquisition of Fortego, LLC (“Fortego”), a Maryland-based company leading providers of complex, mission-critical cyber and SIGINT solutions that serve the most demanding missions in national security. Fortego has proven capabilities in advanced SIGINT and cyber operations, with end-to-end solutions in cyber analytics, vulnerability research, and CNO engineering.
eureka strategic consulting, LLC (“eureka”) had the opportunity to work alongside Fortego for five years leading up to the point of sale as a strategic leadership consulting advisor. According to Chad Price and Eric Rothenberger, former owners of Fortego, “One unique aspect of the service that eureka provide[d] was how it’s tailored to what you as a business owner want to achieve. They didn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to giving advice and guidance. They truly took the time to understand [our] desired outcomes and then provided tailored advisory services to drive those outcomes. From leadership coaching to organizational design to driving financial results, eureka was able to apply their experience from leading startups to large corporations to guide us to our goals.” eureka continues to stay connected with Chad and Eric informally to provide support where needed.
As part of services provided, John Skordas, Managing Partner of eureka, likes to work with clients every step along the way. Having John as a strategic advisor helped prepare Price and Rothenberger for the transaction. “John’s unique owner-first approach helped us stay focused on the outcomes we were driving for, which wasn’t always monetary. It was a tremendous help to get a no-sh*t, this is what it means for you, assessment at each stage of the transaction process,” said Eric Rothenberger.
As Price and Rothenberger were going through the transaction process, they realized how prepared and ready they were despite the natural stress and anxiety that comes with selling a business. According to Price “[p]rior to entering any engagements with the bankers/brokers, John had the foreknowledge of questions that would be asked of us through the process. This in turn provided us with the utmost confidence throughout the entirety of the deal. That confidence, in my opinion, allowed us to just present our story in a relaxed but energetic way. because we knew that when questions were asked, we already had the answers. So, it took all of the anxiety out of the situation and gave us peace of mind.” Rothenberger had a similar point of view as he explained “[i]t's impossible to foresee and be prepared for every question and curveball that might come at you when you go through the process of selling your business, but with eureka's help to prepare and position [us] well before the process started, it felt like we had 99% of the topics and questions covered.”
When asked why other entrepreneurs should consider a strategic advisory engagement with eureka, Fortgeo provided the following three reasons:
1. If you want to increase the value of your business,
2. If you want to be prepared so you can anticipate questions and issues before they arise, and possibly even have a little more fun going through the process, and
3. If you want a trusted advisor in your corner that can relate to what you are going through as a business owner that is about to make the biggest decision of your life (Price and Rothenberger.)
“It has been an honor to work with Chad and Eric the last five years preparing them for the successful close of their deal at the end of 2020. Over that time, I have been humbled to help them wherever necessary. We have worked strategy, vision, financials, organization structure, investments, and all the planning to successfully achieve the outcome for not only the owners but also the staff of Fortego. Fortego’s culture, family, and mission focus were paramount to the company’s success in helping their customers achieve impactful and lasting outcomes in the Cyber & SIGINT Operations/Missions and eureka is excited to see the future impact Fortego makes with BlueHalo.
A great deal of thinking goes into a successful transaction - but for the owners and staff of Fortego - the goal was to think of the transaction not as an ending but a transition to something greater and more significant. Great care was made in advance by the owners to truly consider what mattered not only for their current success but the future successful integration into a larger entity. That planning helped to guide the owners through the entire process.
It was critical as well for the owners to maintain the same feel and focus for support to their customers with continued technical excellence in the company's primary capability areas. The approach taken will ensure that Fortego continues to deliver lasting outcomes in the Cyber and SIGINT domains and beyond.” (Skordas)
About eureka strategic consulting, LLC
eureka strategic consulting ("eureka") is a Columbia, MD based consulting firm that specializes in providing strategic leadership consulting support to Senior Owners and Operators. eureka works directly with the ownership of commercial and government companies in an effort to help them achieve their strategic goals through a strategic advisor engagement. Typical engagements are with established companies with successful operations looking to advance, alter or enhance their current strategy or market position. Historically, our support to clients in the areas of strategic planning, re-engineering of business operations, liquidity, acquisition and integration planning have led to significant increases in our client's profitability, cost management, and market positioning. www.eurekastrategic.c
