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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 4th,
2010 - Xe Hires BlackArch as Adviser as Blackwater Founder Sells Firm |
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Xe Hires
BlackArch as Adviser as Blackwater Founder Sells Firm By Gopal Ratnam Bloomberg August 4, 2010 Xe Services LLC, the
security company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, brought in BlackArch
Partners as an adviser as founder Erik Prince seeks a buyer for the business. “I can confirm we have been
hired as exclusive advisers on the sale process,” Tim Whitmire, a founder of
Charlotte, North Carolina-based BlackArch, said today in a telephone
interview. He declined to give a possible sale size, deadline or the names of
any suitors. Prince, the ex-Navy commando
who formed Blackwater in 1997, said in June that the closely held company was
being sold. Blackwater won contracts that included helping protect U.S.
officials and embassies in Iraq and Afghanistan, while also drawing criticism
in Congress for fatal civilian shootings. BlackArch executives
previously advised Moyock, North Carolina-based Xe on the sale of its
aviation services unit to AAR Corp., according to the advisory firm’s
website. The sale, valued at $200 million, was concluded in March. Stacy DeLuke, a spokeswoman
for Xe, couldn’t be reached by telephone regarding BlackArch’s hiring and
didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail request. The company has declined to
comment since disclosing its sale plans on June 7. Talks With Buyers Xe was in talks at the time
with possible buyers, a person familiar with the matter has said, asking not
to be identified because the details are private. The Xe name was adopted
about a year and a half ago, according to the company. In 2008, the U.S.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reported that the firm’s
employees were linked to 195 shooting incidents dating to 2005. Five ex-
workers won dismissal of U.S. weapons and manslaughter charges on Dec. 31 in
the 2007 deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. In August 2009, the New York
Times reported that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had hired
contractors from Blackwater to find and assassinate al-Qaeda operatives. The
Times cited current and former government officials it didn’t identify. Xe said in June it had taken
“significant” steps in the previous 15 months to make it more attractive to a
buyer, without elaborating. Also in June, it won $120 million in State
Department security work in Afghanistan, CBS News reported, and a $100
million contract to protect CIA operations in the country, according to the
Washington Post. AAR Purchase The Aviation Worldwide
Services unit sold to Wood Dale, Illinois-based AAR provided planes and
helicopters to the U.S. Defense and State departments to transport people and
cargo worldwide. Whitmire said BlackArch Vice
President Gordie Vap advised on that sale while with Edgeview Partners,
another Charlotte-based advisory firm. BlackArch principals completed about
200 transactions in industries ranging from aerospace to food and beverage
and transportation, according to the company’s website. Those deals include
Transdigm Group Inc.’s 2008 purchase of CEF Industries, which Transdigm said
was an $83 million acquisition. External link: http://tinyurl.com/2u2mb9u |