---
title: "Leidos' 41.5% screening stake now sits under $1 billion of Blackstone-led debt"
description: "Blackstone Credit & Insurance leads the $1 billion loan behind the Analogic-branded screening venture Leidos closed on October 5, with HPS, Bank of America and Wells Fargo arranging. The borrowed cash bought out Altaris' remaining Analogic stake; Leidos' 41.5% equity sits behind the debt and cannot ask to leave before October 2033."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-10-16T19:36:32.376Z
modified: 2026-10-16T19:36:32.376Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/leidos-41-5-screening-stake-now-sits-under-1-billion-of-blackstone-led-debt
language: en
keywords: "Private Credit, Blackstone, Leidos, Defense, M&A"
---

# Leidos' 41.5% screening stake now sits under $1 billion of Blackstone-led debt

> Blackstone Credit & Insurance leads the $1 billion loan behind the Analogic-branded screening venture Leidos closed on October 5, with HPS, Bank of America and Wells Fargo arranging. The borrowed cash bought out Altaris' remaining Analogic stake; Leidos' 41.5% equity sits behind the debt and cannot ask to leave before October 2033.

## The billion behind the checkpoints has a name

[Blackstone](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/blackstone) Credit & Insurance, Blackstone's credit-investing arm, said on October 13 that it leads the $1 billion financing behind the screening company [Leidos](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/leidos) closed on October 5, with HPS Investment Partners, [Bank of America](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/bank-of-america) and [Wells Fargo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/wells-fargo) arranging alongside [1]. Bloomberg classed the loan as private credit [2]. The borrower is Nickel JV Ultimate Parent, LLC, a venture trading as Analogic that combines Analogic, the Salem, New Hampshire imaging and detection maker, with the airport, port and border screening businesses Leidos contributed [1][3].

## The borrowed cash bought out Altaris

Leidos' [Form 8-K, the current report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1336920/000119312526413208/d157380d8k.htm), records where the money went: Altaris affiliates sold their remaining equity in Analogic's parent into the venture, paid with cash the venture raised from new debt [3].

Altaris, a healthcare-focused investment firm managing $10 billion, took Analogic private for $1.1 billion in 2018 [1][2]. After the close it holds no direct Analogic stake outside the venture [4]. Blackstone's release discloses no rate, term or fund for the loan, and the firm did not say which client accounts are providing it [1][5]. Leidos' own closing statement lists the new company's ability to service its indebtedness among its risk factors [6].

## Leidos' 41.5% is levered, locked and unpriced

Leidos took 41.5% of the equity and a minority of board seats [3]. Altaris affiliates took 58.5%, the right to appoint a board majority, and drag-along rights that can pull Leidos into a sale [3].

Leidos signed non-compete covenants, owes no further capital, and cannot demand liquidity before October 2033, seven years after closing; distributions come when the board decides, at least annually [3][7]. [The business it contributed](https://theinference.org/article/leidos-put-its-625-million-screening-business-into-an-altaris-jv-it-cannot-leave-on-its-own-before-2033) carried about 1,500 employees and $625 million of projected 2026 revenue, 3.6% of the $17.2 billion Leidos reported for fiscal 2025 [7]. No filing, release or analyst note has valued the stake inside a company worth $14.78 billion [1][7].

## The TSA ceiling grew; the value per year did not

The Transportation Security Administration re-selected Leidos on September 28 as lead deployer of checkpoint screening equipment nationwide, [an award worth up to $672.5 million over eight years](https://www.govconwire.com/articles/tsa-leidos-672m-seds-ii-checkpoint-equipment-deployment-contract), replacing a $470.7 million five-year contract from 2021 [8][9]. Spread across its ordering period, the new ceiling pays about $84 million a year, down from about $94 million, and the 2021 version drew $435 million of actual orders [8][9].

*Chart: **The TSA ceiling grew 43 percent; the last award drew $435 million of orders** Bar chart comparing the 2021 TSA checkpoint deployment award ceiling of $470.7 million, the $435 million of orders actually drawn under it, and the 2026 award ceiling of $672.5 million.*

*Ceiling values and actual orders drawn, in millions of US dollars; the annotation's per-year figures are each ceiling divided by its ordering-period years. Sources: GovCon Wire and Washington Technology, October 1, 2026. [8][9]*

JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman [cut Leidos to Neutral from Overweight on October 8](https://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/JPMorgan+Downgrades+Leidos+Holdings+%28LDOS%29+to+Neutral/27162482.html), target $142 from $160, on Health-segment erosion, with 2027 revenue seen flat at $18.1 billion; the note priced none of the venture [7][10]. Leidos' own quarterly revenue is still climbing, $4.56 billion in the quarter ended July 3, up 7.2 percent [11].

*Chart: **Leidos' quarterly revenue peaked at $4.56 billion in the quarter ended July 3** Column chart of Leidos quarterly revenue across the eight quarters ended July 3, 2026, rising from $4.19 billion to a high of $4.56 billion, with one dip to $4.21 billion in the quarter ended January 2, 2026*

*Revenue in billions of US dollars by calendar quarter, from Leidos' SEC filings. Q2 '26 is the quarter ended July 3, 2026, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier. Source: Leidos quarterly figures, SEC filings [11]. [11]*

## The case for the structure

The loan is serviced from the cash flows of the whole venture, which owns all of Analogic, not only the $625 million of revenue Leidos contributed [3][4]. No filing sizes Analogic, so leverage measured on combined revenue is lower than the contributed figure alone implies [3].

Leidos owes nothing further, which caps its downside funding [3]. Chief Executive Tom Bell [called the venture an "American innovator" with the technology, talent and scale for global screening](https://investors.leidos.com/news-releases/news-release-details/leidos-security-enterprise-solutions-and-analogic-close-deal) [6], and Leidos keeps the deployment work itself, installing, relocating and decommissioning checkpoint machines [8].

## What the third quarter has to answer

When fiscal third-quarter results land, the line to read is which aviation-security dollars are Leidos revenue and which are a minority stake someone else can sell [7]. The loan's terms, if they surface, the venture's first board-set distribution and any drag-along exercise are what price that stake next [3][5].

## Takeaway

Altaris' exit was paid with $1 billion of Blackstone-led debt; Leidos' 41.5% of the screening venture now sits behind that loan, unpriced in any filing, and locked in until October 2033.

## Sources

1. [WebWire, Blackstone Credit & Insurance Leads $1 Billion Financing to Support Combination of Analogic Corporation and Leidos' Security Enterprise Solutions Businesses, 13 October 2026](https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=362762)
2. [Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, Blackstone Leads $1 Billion Private Credit Deal for Leidos, 12 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/blackstone-leads-1-billion-private-123000651.html)
3. [Leidos Holdings, Form 8-K, SEC EDGAR, filed 5 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1336920/000119312526413208/d157380d8k.htm)
4. [Money Racket, Leidos spins off security unit to joint venture with Altaris, 11 October 2026](https://moneyracket.com/article/leidos-spins-off-security-unit-to-joint-venture-with-altaris/)
5. [Insurance Business America, Blackstone's insurance-focused credit arm leads $1 billion loan for security imaging combination, 12 October 2026](https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/blackstones-insurancefocused-credit-arm-leads-1-billion-loan-for-security-imaging-combination-593233.aspx)
6. [Leidos investor relations, Leidos Security Enterprise Solutions and Analogic close deal to strengthen global security screening capabilities, 5 October 2026](https://investors.leidos.com/news-releases/news-release-details/leidos-security-enterprise-solutions-and-analogic-close-deal)
7. [The Inference, Leidos put its $625 million screening business into an Altaris JV it cannot leave on its own before 2033, 10 October 2026](https://theinference.org/article/leidos-put-its-625-million-screening-business-into-an-altaris-jv-it-cannot-leave-on-its-own-before-2033)
8. [GovCon Wire, Leidos Wins $672M TSA Checkpoint Screening Deployment Contract, 1 October 2026](https://www.govconwire.com/articles/tsa-leidos-672m-seds-ii-checkpoint-equipment-deployment-contract)
9. [Washington Technology, Leidos wins $672M airport security equipment recompete, 1 October 2026](https://www.washingtontechnology.com/contracts/2026/10/leidos-wins-672m-airport-security-equipment-recompete/416363/)
10. [StreetInsider, JPMorgan Downgrades Leidos Holdings (LDOS) to Neutral, 8 October 2026](https://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/JPMorgan+Downgrades+Leidos+Holdings+%28LDOS%29+to+Neutral/27162482.html)
11. [Leidos, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 16 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001336920)


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Leidos' 41.5% screening stake now sits under $1 billion of Blackstone-led debt — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/leidos-41-5-screening-stake-now-sits-under-1-billion-of-blackstone-led-debt