---
title: "Leidos shed its scanners; Blackstone just lent $1 billion against them"
description: "Blackstone Credit & Insurance is leading $1 billion of private credit for the security-screening venture Leidos carved out of its $17.2 billion group. Leidos was paid in equity it cannot force anyone to buy before October 2033, and the debt now sits on private lenders' books."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-10-13T13:19:40.471Z
modified: 2026-10-13T13:19:40.471Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/leidos-shed-its-scanners-blackstone-just-lent-1-billion-against-them
language: en
keywords: "Private Credit, Leidos, Blackstone, Carve Outs, Joint Ventures"
---

# Leidos shed its scanners; Blackstone just lent $1 billion against them

> Blackstone Credit & Insurance is leading $1 billion of private credit for the security-screening venture Leidos carved out of its $17.2 billion group. Leidos was paid in equity it cannot force anyone to buy before October 2033, and the debt now sits on private lenders' books.

## The billion behind the baggage scanners

[Blackstone](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/blackstone) Credit & Insurance (BXCI) said on October 12 that it is [leading $1 billion of financing](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261012616342/en/Blackstone-Credit-Insurance-Leads-%241-Billion-Financing-to-Support-Combination-of-Analogic-Corporation-and-Leidos-Security-Enterprise-Solutions-Businesses) for the combination of Analogic, the Salem, New Hampshire imaging maker, with the Security Enterprise Solutions, Ports & Borders and Industrial Automation businesses of [Leidos](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/leidos), the Reston, Virginia government contractor [1]. HPS Investment Partners, a private-credit investment firm, joined Bank of America and Wells Fargo as joint lead arrangers, [arranging and holding the paper themselves: private credit, not a syndicated bank loan](https://www.briefs.co/news/blackstone-leads-1-billion-private-loan-for-leidos-analogic/) [1][2]. The combination had [closed on October 5](https://investors.leidos.com/news-releases/news-release-details/leidos-security-enterprise-solutions-and-analogic-close-deal) [4].

## Equity out, no check in

The businesses Leidos contributed carry about 1,500 employees and roughly $625 million of projected 2026 revenue, a sliver of a group that reported about $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026 [3][6][8]. Leidos [exchanged them for 41.5% of the equity](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1336920/000119312526413208/d157380d8k.htm) of the venture, registered as Nickel JV Ultimate Parent, LLC [4]. Affiliates of Altaris, the healthcare investor that took Analogic private for $1.1 billion in 2018, took 58.5% and sold their remaining Analogic shares to the venture for cash raised from the new debt [2][4]. The closing cash went to Altaris entities, not to Leidos.

*Chart: **Group revenue reached $4.6 billion, a three-year high, before the carve-out** Leidos quarterly revenue rose from $3.9 billion in Q3 2023 to $4.6 billion in Q2 2026, the highest of the twelve quarters shown.*

*Quarterly revenue, US$ billions, from Leidos SEC filings. The screening and industrial automation units left the group on October 5, 2026. [9]*

## Locked in until after October 2033

Altaris's funds appoint a majority of the board, decide distributions of available cash, which must be made at least annually, and hold drag-along rights: the power to force Leidos to sell its stake in a sale of the venture [4]. Leidos can tag along if its partner sells, but its right to demand an exit begins only after the seventh anniversary of closing, in October 2033 [4]. The stock Leidos holders still own [traded at $117.74 in the closing week](https://www.financial-news.co.uk/leidos-closes-security-screening-joint-venture-with-altaris/), down 34.1% for the year [5].

## Whose money priced the scanners

BXCI [managed $443 billion at the end of 2025](https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/blackstones-insurancefocused-credit-arm-leads-1-billion-loan-for-security-imaging-combination-593233.aspx), and its insurance platform manages portfolios for insurers' general accounts; institutional and insurance clients supply about three-quarters of the assets on Blackstone's credit platform [7]. Which funds hold this loan, and what it pays, was not disclosed [7].

The demand underneath is real: Leidos kept adjacent screening work, including [a potential $672.5 million Transportation Security Administration award](https://www.govconwire.com/articles/leidos-altaris-analogic-joint-venture) in September [6]. Analogic chief executive Tom Ripp calls the combination a stronger, more capable company, and Leidos chief executive Tom Bell says the carve-out sharpens the focus of the NorthStar 2030 strategy [3][8]. None of it prices what 41.5% of the venture is worth.

## What to watch next

Leidos closes its fiscal quarters on the Friday nearest the quarter mark, so the third quarter ended on October 2, three days before the combination [9]. That quarter's report is the last to fold the screening units into group revenue, and the first without them ends in January 2027 [9]. Leidos is expected to report the stake as an equity-method investment, booking its share of the venture's profit rather than the units' full sales, and it has not said when that switch happens [5].

Watch whether the Altaris-controlled board declares a distribution, and whether the loan's pricing ever surfaces [4][7]. Leidos [cannot demand a sale of its 41.5% before October 2033](https://theinference.org/article/leidos-put-its-625-million-screening-business-into-an-altaris-jv-it-cannot-leave-on-its-own-before-2033), and until then the venture pays its holders only what that board chooses to distribute [4].

## Takeaway

Leidos swapped $625 million of revenue-bearing screening businesses for 41.5% of a venture its partner controls, funded by $1 billion of private credit led by Blackstone; the exit lever stays with Altaris until 2033.

## Sources

1. [Business Wire, Blackstone Credit & Insurance Leads $1 Billion Financing to Support Combination of Analogic Corporation and Leidos' Security Enterprise Solutions Businesses, 12 October 2026](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261012616342/en/Blackstone-Credit-Insurance-Leads-%241-Billion-Financing-to-Support-Combination-of-Analogic-Corporation-and-Leidos-Security-Enterprise-Solutions-Businesses)
2. [Briefs Finance, Blackstone Leads $1B Loan for Leidos-Analogic Deal, 12 October 2026](https://www.briefs.co/news/blackstone-leads-1-billion-private-loan-for-leidos-analogic/)
3. [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)
4. [Leidos Holdings Form 8-K (Items 1.01, 7.01, 9.01), 5 October 2026, SEC EDGAR](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1336920/000119312526413208/d157380d8k.htm)
5. [Financial News, Leidos closes security screening joint venture with Altaris, 5 October 2026](https://www.financial-news.co.uk/leidos-closes-security-screening-joint-venture-with-altaris/)
6. [GovCon Wire, Leidos, Altaris Complete Analogic Security Screening Joint Venture, 6 October 2026](https://www.govconwire.com/articles/leidos-altaris-analogic-joint-venture)
7. [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)
8. [Pulse 2.0, Leidos And Altaris Form Joint Venture With Analogic To Expand Global Security Screening Capabilities, 19 April 2026](https://pulse2.com/leidos-and-altaris-form-joint-venture-with-analogic-to-expand-global-security-screening-capabilities/)
9. [Leidos quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 13 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001336920)


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Leidos shed its scanners; Blackstone just lent $1 billion against them — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/leidos-shed-its-scanners-blackstone-just-lent-1-billion-against-them