BlackArch Partners announced that Pete Bilden has joined the firm as Managing Director and co-head of the firm’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services industry practice. Bilden has more than two decades of experience in the Aerospace, Defense & Government Services sector, both as an investment banker focused on large cap and middle-market M&A and strategic advisory and as a former U.S. Army Captain and scout helicopter pilot. Over the course of his investment banking career, Bilden has advised corporate and financial clients on large cap and middle-market transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $17 billion.

“We are excited to have Pete join our team at BlackArch,” said Gordie Vap, Managing Director and co-founder of BlackArch. “Pete has developed significant industry knowledge over the past 20+ years, and has advised on numerous marquis transactions in the government and defense sectors. He will bring a wealth of strategic and private equity relationships to BlackArch and will be a great cultural fit with our growing platform. I am personally eager to partner with Pete and excited to add another pilot and military veteran to our ADGS team.”

Before joining BlackArch, Bilden was a Managing Director at Stone Key Partners, a strategic advisory and M&A boutique focused on the Government and Commercial Technology sectors. Prior to Stone Key, he was a banker in the Diversified Industrials group at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he led day-to-day execution of M&A, strategic advisory and capital markets transactions for a variety of corporate and financial industrial clients.

Before beginning his business career, Bilden was a Captain in the U.S. Army, commanding conventional and special operations aviation units globally from 1994 to 2003. He is a Co-Founder and Director of The No Greater Sacrifice Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization providing academic scholarships and mentoring for the children and families of fallen and wounded service members.

BlackArch Partners is a leading middle-market investment bank offering a full spectrum of advisory services to financial sponsors, private companies and diversified corporations. BlackArch addresses the needs of entrepreneurs, founders and shareholders of private companies with specialized services that include M&A advisory, strategic advisory and private capital solutions. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., with offices in Houston, T.X., BlackArch features a total of 12 industry-focused practices that cover all sectors of interest to middle-market investors; BlackArch professionals have closed over 300 transactions in 16 countries on four continents.