Sidley Advises Shield AI on Acquisition of Aechelon

Sidley represented Shield AI in the acquisition of software simulation company Aechelon Technology Inc., a Sagewind Capital portfolio company. Aechelon’s technology is used by the U.S. military and allies to train pilots and test advanced aircraft and autonomous systems before live flight, and supports a range of critical national security platforms, including the Pentagon’s Joint Simulation Environment.

Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft.

The Sidley team was led by Andrew Fadale and Justin Macke (M&A and Private Equity), and included Matt Naifeh, John Ghazoul, and Spencer Li (M&A and Private Equity); Sven De Knop, Kyle Fiet, James Mendenhall, Maryanne Kamau, and Ben Vallimarescu (Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy); Christian Brause and Eric Grosshandler (Tax); Amy Rubin and Ryan McLeod (Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation); Rebecca Stuart and Kristina Daisak (Labor, Employment and Immigration); Elizabeth McCloy and Brandon Bryer (Real Estate); Ash Nagdev and Ben Cross (Privacy and Cybersecurity); Kyle Barnett and Andy Dykstra (Technology and Life Sciences Transactions); Craig Dukin (White Collar Defense and Investigations); Vadim Brusser (Antitrust and Competition); Alex Kaplan and Deborah Sands (Securities and Shareholder Litigation); Maureen Crough and Sarah Jehl (Environmental, Health, and Safety); and Scott Goldstein (Insurance).