Luna Innovations Gets $50 Million Investment From White Hat, Acquires Silixa

Reston and Washington, DC – December 21, 2023 – Cooley advised Luna Innovations, a global leader in advanced fiber optic-based technology, on its $50 million investment from White Hat Capital Partners and its acquisition of Silixa. Lawyers Darren DeStefano, Mark Ballantyne, William DuVal, Caroline Diemer and Carley Cruea led the Cooley team advising Luna on its investment from White Hat, while lawyers Aaron Binstock, Russell Anderson, David Wilson, Neelam Atwal, Nyron Persaud, Dov Fiskus, Paula Holland and Bethan Chalmers led the team advising Luna on its acquisition of Silixa.

Proceeds from White Hat’s investment were partially used to fund Luna’s acquisition of Silixa and related transaction costs – an aggregate amount of approximately $25 million – and repay Luna’s $17 million term loan with PNC Bank. The remaining proceeds will be applied to initiatives already in process to accelerate growth and increase profitability.

The acquisition of Silixa, a UK-based leader in distributed fiber optic sensing solutions, further propels Luna’s position in that sector, adding capabilities in distributed acoustic sensing, distributed temperature sensing, and distributed strain sensing that offer enhanced performance for applications in energy, natural environments, mining and defense. Funded by a portion of White Hat’s investment, Silixa will receive $21.5 million in upfront cash consideration and up to an additional $16.5 million in earnouts payable in 2025 upon the achievement of certain 2024 financial performance milestones.

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