Burt Rutan is an aerospace entrepreneur and maverick with over 30 airframes built and tested. His company, Scaled Composites, was known for designing and prototyping many high performance aircraft that set many world records and firsts including:

  • Highest altitude achieved of 63,245 feet (Proteus in Oct, 2000);
  • First privately-funded reusable spacecraft (SpaceShipOne);
  • First privately-funded human spaceflight (June 21, 2004);
  • Fastest global non-stop, unrefueled circumnavigation (GlobalFlyer on Feb 28-Mar 3, 2005);
  • Longest non-stop, unrefueled flight (GlobalFlyer on Feb 7-11, 2006);
  • First privately-funded aircraft to exceed Mach 3;
  • First privately-funded manned spacecraft to exceed 100km altitude;
  • Won the $10 million Ansari-X prize (Oct 4, 2004 in Mojave, CA);

So, it is no surprise that Richard Branson teamed with Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites to develop the aircraft, spacecraft, and new technologies needed for Virgin Galactic.

Our Impact Capital Group CEO is proud to have played a key role in the representation of Burt Rutan in the highly successful sale of Scaled Composites. Some of the unusual challenges of this sale included (a) presenting a company that had all its revenues entirely from R&D projects and no recurring production revenues, (b) properly communicating the extraordinary past achievements of the company as well as its future possibilities, (c) supporting buyer due diligence where some of the projects could not be fully investigated, and (d) ensuring customer privacy and data security. After artful packaging, effective marketing, skilled negotiations, and multiple offers received, Scaled Composites was successfully acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2007.

For more information, contact our team of industry experts at Impact Capital Group.

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