Addison-based Heads Up Technologies, which makes technology for aircraft cabins, agreed to be acquired by Thornton, Colorado-based Signia Aerospace for an undisclosed amount.

Heads Up, founded in 1985 and owned by private equity firm JLL Partners, makes a variety of aircraft cabin systems. This includes cabin lighting systems, glow-in-the-dark floor-path lighting, audio and video distribution technology, and electronic controls.

‘An outstanding addition’

Heads Up sells technology to original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, and aircraft operators. Its more than 1,000 customers include Beechcraft, Cessna, Embraer, Gulfstream and HondaJet, the company said on its website.

“Heads Up Technologies is an outstanding addition to Signia Aerospace and further strengthens our position as a provider of highly engineered, proprietary aerospace systems and components,” Norman Jordan, CEO of Signia, said in a statement.

JLL Partners, which invests in middle-market companies in the health care, industrial and business services sectors, acquired Heads Up in 2019. 

“Heads Up Technologies has earned the trust of leading aircraft manufacturers and operators through its decades of engineering expertise and product reliability,” Andrew Wall, president of Signia’s Aircraft Systems business, said in a statement. “Its integrated cabin management and electronics capabilities, combined with its lighting and aftermarket product portfolio, provide a compelling platform for continued growth.”

Heads Up employs more than 260 people at six facilities in the U.S., United Kingdom and Germany, the company said. It’s unclear how the acquisition would affect Heads Up’s workforce.

Heads Up’s acquisitions

Under JLL Partners’ ownership, Heads Up has made three acquisitions:

• Sterling, Massachusetts-based Alto Aviation, a designer and manufacturer of aircraft audio and cabin management systems.
• Kirkland, Washington-based Innovate Advantage, which provides cabin management systems for business jets.
• Wales-based STG Aerospace, a manufacturer of aircraft cabin lighting products.

Signia’s history

Thornton, Colorado-based Signia, backed by private investment firm Arcline Investment Management, provides aircraft systems and components for the aerospace and defense industries. Heads Up will join 11 other companies in the Signia portfolio. None of the 11 companies is based in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Arcline declined to comment on the Heads Up acquisition. A representative of Heads Up couldn’t be reached for comment.

If the Heads Up deal closes, it will be Signia’s seventh acquisition in five years.

“Signia Aerospace is more than a collection of aerospace suppliers — it’s a force multiplier,” trade publication Vertical said in 2025.

Vertical said Signia made components certified for more than 500 aircraft models and held nearly 540 aerospace patents. Heads Up owns more than 60 patents.

Arcline established Signia in 2022, when Jordan became its CEO.

In a statement released at the time, Jordan said Signia’s brands “are leaders in their respective markets and together provide a compelling value proposition to aerospace and defense OEMs and end users.”