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Celestar sold to Virginia defense firm B&A

B&A acquired Celestar, expanding intelligence capabilities across defense and national security markets.
Chuck Merlis January 13, 2026

B&A has acquired Celestar Corporation, expanding its intelligence capabilities amid intensifying competition in the defense and intelligence markets.

B&A announced the acquisition Tuesday.

The deal adds a global intelligence services provider with experience supporting U.S. government customers across national security missions.

Those customers include organizations within the Department of Defense, Department of State and the U.S. Intelligence Community.

What Celestar brings

Celestar Corporation was founded in 2004 and initially supported counterterrorism operations.

Over time, the company expanded as national security priorities shifted.

Today, Celestar delivers services across three core areas.

Those include Intelligence Analysis & Enabling Services, Data Enterprise Support and Training & Professional Services.

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The acquisition adds multi-INT disciplines to B&A’s existing offerings.

Those include Human Intelligence, Signals Intelligence, Imagery Intelligence, Measurement and Signals Intelligence and Open-Source Intelligence.

Celestar also brings All-Source Intelligence expertise, integrating multiple intelligence streams into a single analytic picture.

Expanding the scope of federal work

For B&A, the expanded capability set opens the door to larger and more complex federal opportunities.

The combined company is now better positioned to pursue work with agencies such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, as well as Combatant Commands.

Celestar’s experience strengthens B&A’s existing geospatial intelligence work and allows the organization to deliver more integrated intelligence solutions.

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“Combining our strengths with Celestar’s All Source Intelligence expertise is a transformative step for B&A,” said Jonathan Evans, president and CEO of B&A. “This acquisition is a growth multiplier, not only in capability but in customer reach.”

Evans said the deal positions B&A as a full-spectrum intelligence provider and brings the company closer to operational missions.

“It immediately positions us as a full-spectrum intelligence provider, bringing us closer to the warfighter and opening up new high-value contracts,” Evans said.

Integration and continuity

Celestar’s leadership team will remain in place following the acquisition, a move both companies described as central to a smooth transition.

“We are excited to join B&A and its heritage of service,” said Gregory Celestan, CEO of Celestar. “B&A’s dedicated focus on mission-first service delivery and their commitment to retaining our leadership team ensure a seamless transition.”

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Celestan said the acquisition gives employees access to greater scale while preserving mission focus.

“Our employees will benefit from B&A’s Centers of Excellence and service delivery approach while gaining the scale necessary to deliver even greater impact across the defense intelligence enterprise,” he said.

He added that the combined platform will allow Celestar to reach a broader customer base and pursue additional markets within national security.

Backed by private equity investment

The acquisition reflects B&A’s continued growth under its private equity partner, DFW Capital Partners.

The firm has supported B&A’s strategy to build a mission-first consulting platform focused on defense, intelligence and national security customers.

Positioning for what comes next

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, B&A delivers IT and mission-critical solutions across all three branches of the U.S. government.

Its areas of specialization include cloud modernization, data science and analytics, application transformation, geospatial intelligence and cybersecurity.

With the addition of Celestar, B&A moves into a more competitive tier of intelligence providers where agencies increasingly expect integrated analysis, technology and training from a single partner.

The success of the deal will be measured not by the announcement itself but by how quickly the combined capabilities translate into execution across complex federal missions where integration is no longer optional.

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