Leidos Holdings (NYSE: LDOS) has completed a security screening joint venture with investment firm Altaris, closing a deal first announced in April 2026. Leidos retains a 41.5% equity stake in the new entity, with Altaris affiliates holding the remaining 58.5%, according to a Form 8-K filed with the SEC.
The joint venture combines Leidos’ Security Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Automation business with Altaris-owned Analogic Corporation, which makes screening equipment for airports, borders and critical infrastructure. The new company, registered as Nickel JV Ultimate Parent, LLC, will operate under the Analogic brand, Leidos confirmed in a separate filing marking the transaction’s close.
A 41.5% stake, not a clean exit
Leidos and Altaris signed the original Contribution and Equity Purchase Agreement on 14 April 2026, with Leidos at the time guiding to a close in the second half of its 2026 fiscal year, as disclosed in its first-quarter 10-Q. The equity split – 41.5% for Leidos, 58.5% for Altaris – was reported independently at the time of the announcement by Washington Technology, well ahead of the formal closing filings.
An Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement governing the new entity is dated 5 October 2026 and binds Leidos, Inc., ANLG Intermediate Company, LLC and AHP-ANLG IV, LLC, according to the exhibit filed alongside the 8-K. The structure leaves Leidos as a minority partner rather than a straight seller, a point the company has emphasised since the deal was first struck.
‘Leidos Security Enterprise Solutions and Analogic close deal to strengthen global security screening capabilities,’ the companies said in a joint statement confirming the transaction had completed.
Deal closes with shares near a 52-week low
The joint venture closed in the same week Leidos shares fell to $117.74, down 3.5% on the day, according to GuruFocus. The stock was down 34.1% for the year to date and 38.2% over the preceding twelve months at that point, the same data showed.
Whether the security-screening carve-out reflects a strategic refocus on Leidos’ core government and defence contracting business, or a response to the broader share-price slide, is a question investors are likely to keep asking as the first post-close results land. The business being contributed – Security Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Automation – sat alongside a group that has otherwise kept growing at Leidos’ core.
Core business still expanding
Leidos reported quarterly revenue of $4.548bn for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, up from $4.383bn in the first quarter, according to its 10-Q filed in August. Diluted earnings per share rose to $2.81 in the second quarter from $2.56 in the first, the same filing showed.
That growth trend stretches back further: quarterly revenue has risen in six of the past seven reported quarters, from $3.951bn in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 to the latest $4.548bn figure. Net income over the same run has ranged between $284m and $391m a quarter, without the sharp swings that would suggest the security-screening unit was dragging materially on group profitability.
Several Leidos insiders filed Form 4 disclosures on 2 October 2026, in the same window as the closing announcement, including filings tied to reporting persons Daniel J. Antal, Christopher R. Cage and Roy E. Stevens. The filings sit alongside two issuer-level Form 4s lodged the same afternoon.
What investors are watching
Leidos has not set a date for when the Nickel JV’s results will first show up in its own reporting as an equity-method investment rather than a consolidated segment. Analysts tracking the stock will be looking at the next quarterly filing for detail on how the 41.5% stake is accounted for, and whether management offers fresh guidance now that the security-screening business sits outside the core group.
For now, the paperwork matches what Leidos and Altaris said back in April: a joint venture, not a sale, with Leidos keeping a substantial minority interest in a business it has run for years under a different name.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Markets move quickly; figures are correct as sourced at the time of writing. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.
