Advent International is collecting first round bids in the sale of CAES, said five sources familiar with the matter.

Advent is working with Goldman Sachs on the sale, as reported by this news service last month. Bids are due next week, the five sources said. Interest in CAES is mainly coming from private equity firms, they added, but one source said some strategics were expected to be in the mix.

Arlington, Virginia-based CAES generates USD 100m to USD 130m in EBITDA, as reported.

Bloomberg reported on 11 March that Advent International was working with an undisclosed adviser to review options for CAES, saying the asset could fetch over USD 1bn.

Advent acquired Cobham in 2020 in a USD 5bn deal and has been gradually divesting pieces of the business. In October 2022, this news service reported that CAES’s space business, CAES Space Systems, sold to Veritas Capital for a deal value just shy of USD 2bn. CAES makes radio frequency and microwave products for the aerospace and defense industry. The US teams of Goldman Sachs and Lazard advised on the sale, as reported.

Advent International, Cobham and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. CAES did not return requests for comment.