Unless you follow the private security contractor business you probably don’t recognize the name Constellis, but chances are good you know Blackwater.
Blackwater started as a private training facility in the late 90s by former Navy SEAL, Erik Prince, the company was sold in 2010 under the name Xe, after becoming a contracting powerhouse, to investment firms Forte Capital Advisors LLC and Manhattan Strategic Ventures LLC. At that point they rebranded as ACADEMI. Then, in 2014, Forte Capital and Manhattan Strategic purchased Triple Canopy and created Constellis Holdings. Interestingly, the Training Center in Moyock, North Carolina, initially founded by Prince, is but a shadow of its former self and it seems as if the Triple Canopy management has taken over. Last year, Constellis bought Olive Group, making it even larger.
Now, Apollo Global Management LLC, a private equity company, is in negotiations to purchase Constellis in a deal said to be worth up to $1 Billion.
Tags: Apollo Global, Blackwater, Constellis
Not Blackwater…its Academi (took over at 2010)
Maybe you could actually read the article, where that’s, you know, discussed.
Hit him for that improper preposition too!
Which one; its or at?
lol
How will this affect the training and contracting jobs that “Academi” offers and employees?
SSD you have. Typo in your headline. Unless the NOGO is subliminal 🙂
It must have been a Freudian Slip.
Sad to see Blackwater hated so much. they are never recognized for their acheivments, only the fuck ups
Just like the American ideal these days as seen through the eyes of the progressive left.
god shut up
I don’t take orders from a twat!
They’re not hated around here, but then again, lots of folks who live around here, worked there at one point or another.
Im not sure who is really hating on them. In all honesty, they were a trailblazer in many ways. There were lots of great people who worked there and made a difference. Did they have their issues? Sure. But a fair degree of it was bullshit from the same liberal assholes who have turned things upside down and shit themselves in the process.
Besides, what other contractors have an X box game named after them :-).
Apparently Apollo Global hasnt actually visited and watched day to day operations and seen what a complete and total goat rope it is there now.
The BW days are gone, long gone. The ones left there are the xerox, of the xerox, of the xerox, copies that were hang arounds before, and just live to make the TC guys lives hell daily.
So how will this affect the training there and the contract jobs? Any speculation?
In general it wont. They will still have throughput, but the quality Instructors are leaving in droves. There isnt a single guy there without a resume elsewhere trying to bail, except the ass clowns, who cant go anywhere.
Its not like that place couldnt be amazing again, it could, it has the facility. The problem is the two money guys at the very top are bullshitted by the middle management, especially one guy who came from another big company and basically ran it into the ground then bailed. NO ONE knows why they hired him, but hes one of the main problems and covers up the money losses to the big upper guys. Its really sad what its become, and now they have to sell stock to a big equity firm because they are hemorrhaging money.
The BIG client they service knows whats going on, they know its going downhill fast. Everyone is waiting to see when the task orders come out how bad they get their pee pee slapped. Everyone assumes they will not get anything new, but maintain one big one, and all the other Primes will get big awards, then the only four or five good Instructors left will bail.
If you are contemplating contracting jobs, look to the other two big ones, they are actively headhunting new talent. the funny thing is I spoke to one a month ago and he specifically asked me if I worked for Constellis, I found out later they refuse to hire anyone from there. Pretty funny how word travels.
Constellis is not the BW of the past. Constellis is owned by a large investment group, and a lot of that has come to the surface as the sale of the company has come out in the open. They have been cutting pay and pushing out many of the guys that have been around for years.
Not to mention the non stop lawsuits from their constant illegal shit. Telling downrange guys that on their leave they MUST come to requal (B-dad range shut down) and they will loose the home time and there will be NO PAY for the training…totally illegal. Check the box for another lawsuit, to go along with the labor law violations and overtime and not to mention the USERRA lawsuit they just lost. And the DoJ is looking into it. Kinda shitty to brand yourself a veteran owned company and lose a USERRA lawsuit.
I always wanted them to build a wall between those flat ranges and the driving course. I expected an out of control suburban to come rolling through the bushes at any second when they were driving.
You realize there is a huge water filled ditch between the back half of the driving course and the “30” ranges ?? Kinda hard to flip and make it to the ranges with a 15 foot ditch.
But I was there when two subs were flipped over with .mil and Civ students in them while ass clown Constellis Instructors were driving beyond their limits showing off. Of course, nothing was done. Those same ass clowns teach slamming on brakes and letting the car skid and slide to a stop instead of “threshold braking” (which stops with more control) that every other group teaches, because “it looks way cooler”….One of them said that !….