Alpha Safety Group on Friday said it entered into an agreement to acquire Pajarito Scientific Corp., Santa Fe, N.M., and merge the nuclear-waste-analysis company with its Golden, Co.-based NucFil LLC subsidiary.
Alpha Safety shared the announcement with the Exchange Monitor in a statement. In the statement, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition or say when the acquisition might close.
David Heath, presently Parajito Scientific’s chief executive officer and majority owner, will transition to an advisory role following the acquisition. Terry Wickland, the chief executive officer of NucFil, will remain at the head of the combined company after the close, according to the statement.
Parajito Scientific “will continue to operate from its current locations with ongoing leadership from Martin Clapham, chief science officer, and Jeremy Heath, vice president,” according to the Alpha Safety statement.
Both companies count the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration as clients.
NucFil, founded by Gilbert Brassell in 1986 as Nuclear Filter Technology, was formerly a family-owned business. Initially specializing in filters that allowed containers of nuclear waste to vent hydrogen gas without releasing radionuclides, the company cut its teeth during cleanup of the Department of Energy’s former plutonium pit factory at Rocky Flats and has since expanded to include the manufacture of nuclear waste containers and nuclear-waste handling services.
Pajarito Scientific, also founded in 1986, specializes in non-destructive assay of nuclear and hazardous waste — essentially, identifying and categorizing waste without damaging the environment that contains the waste. The company also builds custom instruments for waste assay.
The Chicago-based private equity firm Benford Capital Partners acquired NucFil, also known as NFT, in June 2021. That September, the firm added assets of Stewart Precision Machining to the mix, expanding what is now known as the Alpha Safety Group. Pajarito Scientific will now join the fold.
On its website, Benford Capital Partners says it specializes in “acquiring, building, and operating lower middle market companies.” The company has made around 40 investments since 2004, according to its website.
