Maximus Is Paying $660 Million to Buy Its Way Into National Security

Maximus, the Tysons, Virginia contractor listed on the NYSE as MMS, announced on Oct. 19, 2026 that it had entered a definitive agreement to acquire Agile Defense, LLC and certain affiliates.

The cash purchase price is $660 million, payable upon closing and subject to certain adjustments, plus potential additional contingent consideration tied to performance objectives, the company said in its release.

The acquisition is expected to accelerate Maximus’s stated strategic priority to expand its presence in the defense and national security markets. Maximus has traditionally focused on civilian work, but it has sought to ramp up its defense portfolio over the past two years. The cash is how that priority moves from a growth ambition to a workforce Maximus can already put on classified work.

What $660 million is buying

Agile Defense was founded in 1998 and is based in McLean, Virginia. The firm brings specialized cybersecurity, digital transformation, data analytics, and AI expertise. It serves more than 50 federal government agencies and has approximately 1,100 cleared personnel. It also has customer relationships in cybersecurity and the intelligence community.

That cleared bench is the heart of the purchase. Civilian contractors can hire cyber talent, but they cannot improvise 1,100 people already cleared to sit on defense, homeland security, and intelligence work. Agile Defense also operates Agile Labs, its innovation engine for specialized talent, applied research and development, and emerging technologies.

Agile Defense is backed by Enlightenment Capital, a private investment firm focused on the Aerospace, Defense, Government and Technology sector, Maximus said. Washington Technology reports that Enlightenment Capital has owned Agile Defense since 2022 and combined it with fellow portfolio company IntelliBridge in early 2025. The same trade-press report says Agile Defense is adding approximately 1,800 employees, while Maximus’s announcement cites approximately 1,100 cleared personnel, the narrower figure that describes who can actually do classified work.

Maximus Chief Executive Bruce Caswell said the deal lets the company expand its ability to deliver innovative solutions to some of the most complex and mission-critical needs of the defense, homeland security, and other national security agencies, according to the release. Agile Defense Chief Executive Rick Wagner said the combination pairs Agile Defense’s data analytics, AI, and cybersecurity expertise with Maximus’s reach and operational strength.

A two-year pivot, bought at scale

The purchase follows a path Maximus has already been walking. The company stood up a growth leadership team in 2024 to focus on defense work. A year later, in July 2025, it secured a potential $77 million cyber contract with the Air Force, which the company viewed as a first big step to growing its defense business. The growth team was an internal signal. The Air Force award was a foothold. Agile Defense is a full line of cleared people, cyber and intelligence-community relationships, and an applied-research shop Maximus does not have to assemble badge by badge.

The parent company is large enough to fund that jump. Maximus guides fiscal year 2026 revenue of $5.2 billion to $5.35 billion. In that same third-quarter release, Caswell cited a substantial opportunity set in the defense and national security markets. Paying $660 million in cash, with more contingent consideration possible if performance objectives are met, is how Maximus converts that opportunity set into a workforce already selling into more than 50 federal agencies.

Closing is expected in the first quarter of Maximus’s 2027 fiscal year, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Until then the deal is still an agreement, not an integrated national security business. What the cash is meant to buy is already named: a McLean firm founded in 1998, a cleared bench, cyber and intelligence-community work, and Agile Labs. Two years after Maximus built a defense growth team, it is paying $660 million to turn that priority into people who already hold the clearances to do the work.