NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--L Squared Capital Partners is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Raptor Scientific, has appointed Derek Coppinger to Chief Executive Officer. Derek has also joined the Company’s Board of Directors. As a former executive officer with National Technical Systems (NTS) and Newcastle Systems, Inc, Derek has significant experience executing and integrating strategic acquisitions in the Aerospace & Defense focused testing and measurement industry. Raptor Scientific completed its first acquisition of Space Electronics in September 2019. The company has experienced consistent long-term growth over the past 15 years and will now augment its strong organic growth with a more robust mergers and acquisitions (M&A) effort. Through acquisitions, the company is seeking to add new product offerings relevant for both new and existing customers. The ideal acquisition targets will have a differentiated product offering and high barriers to entry serving the Aerospace & Defense focused testing and measurement market.
“We are pleased to have Derek join the Raptor Scientific team and feel his background is a great fit to lead our aggressive M&A strategy,” said Sean Barrette, partner at L Squared and Raptor Scientific Board of Directors member. “We look forward to a successful partnership with Derek and we are excited for him to lead the platform and build the leading Aerospace & Defense focused testing and measurement platform.”
“I am very excited to join the Raptor Scientific team,” said Derek Coppinger. “The company offers highly differentiated, quality products and services, and the fragmented Aerospace & Defense testing and measurement market is ripe for consolidation and presents a significant opportunity for growth through M&A. The role is well-suited for my background and I look forward to leading the Raptor Scientific team and supporting the company’s continued expansion. Space Electronics is a great company to build a platform around, and I look forward to expanding our testing and measurement capabilities to benefit both new and existing customers.”
Derek Coppinger Biography
Mr. Coppinger will be joining Raptor Scientific as the Chief Executive Officer. Previously he served as vice president at Newcastle Systems, member of board at ESC Lab Sciences, chairman of board at ACIL; senior vice president, chief sales and marketing officer, and chief operating officer at National Technical Systems, and director of sales and marketing at NQA Global. Coppinger holds a Master’s in Engineering and Management of Manufacturing Systems from Cranfield University.
Additionally, L Squared has appointed Steve Litchfield and Paul Dhillon as Independent Directors to Raptor Scientific’s Board. Steve and Paul’s backgrounds and extensive networks will add significant value in helping identify accretive M&A targets and carrying out the long-term growth strategy.
Steve Litchfield Biography
Mr. Litchfield serves as chief financial officer and chief corporate strategy officer at MaxLinear. Previously, he was the executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Microsemi Corporation. Litchfield served as Microsemi’s vice president of the Analog and Mixed Signal Group from 2006 to 2009, as its vice president of corporate marketing and business development from 2003 to 2006, and as its director of business development from 2001 to 2003. Prior to joining Microsemi, he was an equity research analyst at Banc of America Securities and a production engineer at Toyota Motor Corporation. Litchfield holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
Paul Dhillon Biography
Mr. Dhillon serves as the chief executive officer at Integra Devices (Xidas) and managing principal at CSSDP Investments. Previously he served as founders board director at UCI Institute for Innovation, division vice president and business unit manager at Ametek, president and chief executive officer at VTI Instruments Corporation, founding director and architect at LXI Consortium, executive vice president and board director at VXI Technology, founding director at VXI Consortium, and director of sales and marketing at Racal Instruments. Dhillon holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical and electronics engineering from Kingston University.
About Raptor Scientific
Raptor Scientific was founded in 2019 by L Squared Capital Partners and backed with a $60 million equity commitment to consolidate the highly fragmented Aerospace & Defense focused testing and measurement market. The Company completed its first acquisition of Space Electronics in September 2019. For more information, please visit the website: www.raptor-scientific.com.
About L Squared Capital Partners
L Squared Capital Partners is an investment firm headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., that seeks to make long-term investments in leading growth companies that operate in targeted sectors: education technology, tech-enabled services and software, and industrial technology and services. Our unique investor base of family offices enables us to focus on long-term value creation driven by revenue and earnings growth, not financial engineering or market timing. The principals of L Squared have worked together for over a decade and have over 60 years of combined experience investing in growing private companies. For additional information, please visit www.LSquaredCap.com.
