Stifel Financial received final federal approval on a fund that would invest in lower-middle-market companies across the aerospace, energy, and defense manufacturing sectors.
In an October 22 press release, the St. Louis-based firm said its Stifel North Atlantic AM-Forward Fund has obtained an SBIC license related to the US Small Business Administration’s SBIC Critical Technology (SBICCT) initiative backed by the Department of Defense (DoD). The fund will be eligible for SBA leverage to boost its capital, with initial commitments already received from industry contractors Lockheed Martin, GE Aerospace, and ASTM International.
The fund, originally created to support the White House’s Additive Manufacturing (AM) Forward initiative, will target specific tiers of companies strictly within aerospace and defense manufacturing, to drive growth and innovation in domestic supply chains.
The Stifel fund is part of the first group of funds that received green lights and licensing for the SBICCT initiative, which the DoD said collectively represents an investment target size of over $2.8B in approximately 1,000 portfolio companies. The fund’s technical advisory board will be led by Neal Orringer, president of nonprofit defense and manufacturing R&D organization ASTRO America and former DoD director of manufacturing.
View the press releases here:
https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2024/10/22/2967008/0/en/Stifel-Receives-Final-Approval-for-Private-Equity-Fund-Aimed-at-Investing-in-National-Security-Supply-Chain.html
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3942474/department-of-defense-and-us-small-business-administration-announce-first-licen/
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