Bridenstine Joins Private Equity Firm

WASHINGTON – Less than a week after leaving the agency, former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine joined a private equity firm that invests in the aerospace and defense industries.

Acorn Growth Companies, an Oklahoma City-based private equity firm, said on January 25 that it hired Bridenstine as a senior advisor, helping the company invest in companies in the aerospace, defense and and intelligence and supporting the company’s current portfolio. .

“My goal is to really take a look at some of the opportunities that present themselves to Acorn in terms of which companies have the best value, the highest growth opportunities, and help shape the portfolio,” Bridenstine said in an interview. , “And also be part of some of the operating companies that are currently part of the Acorn portfolio to optimize returns and grow these companies.

Bridenstine, in interviews in his final days as a NASA administrator, did not announce his future plans after his tenure at the agency ended on January 20. When asked if he wanted to be involved in the space industry in one way or another, he said, “We’re going to have to see.

In the interview after joining Acorn, he said the position was a good fit with his background, which includes a Masters of Business Administration, as well as his background at NASA. “I’ve been interested in finance and investing for quite some time,” he said, and noted Acorn’s work in sectors at least adjacent to the space. “It was a really good fit based on those things.”

Another factor, he added, is that the job is based in Oklahoma. Bridenstine lives in Tulsa and he mentioned when leaving NASA that he was looking forward to spending more time with his family there.

For Acorn, the hiring of Bridenstine allows the company to leverage its expertise when building a new fund, Acorn Aerospace & Defense Fund V. “Jim has a great track record,” said Rick Nagel, Managing Partner of Acorn, in an interview. “It brings the perspective of the entire federal space strategy.”

Acorn has not to date invested in companies that primarily do business in the space industry. Nagel said he invested in companies that were “level 3” suppliers to bigger contractors, but now kept an eye on the bigger companies. “The companies that are emerging today, making money in the space industry, are different today than they were 10 years ago,” he said. “Some have set up a real business model, earn money, occupy a niche.”

Nagel said that unlike venture capitalists who are making more speculative investments in start-ups, Acorn invests in more mature companies that make money but need funding to grow their businesses. “The space is now, for us, becoming mature enough for private equity,” he said. “This will only continue, thanks to the efforts of Administrator Bridenstine, who works hard to ensure that commercialization of space is a reality.”

Nagel declined to say the size of the new fund, citing Securities and Exchange Commission regulations amid ongoing fundraising activities. The company currently has $ 650 million under management from other investments, and expects the new fund to split its evening of investments between aerospace, defense and intelligence companies. “Space could pass through any of these,” he said.

Bridenstine said there is no conflict of interest that would limit his work at Acorn, except for a “cooling off period” where he cannot represent Acorn at NASA. “Right now, Acorn doesn’t really have a lot of, if anything, business directly with NASA,” he said.