Founder of Blackwater to Sell Security Company

The founder of private security company Xe Services, previously known as Blackwater Worldwide, plans to sell the company to a group of investors based in Los Angeles.

Xe Services has come under intense pressure in recent years, with rumors that the U.S. government would no longer award it contracts so long as founder Erik D Prince, remained the owner, The New York Times reported.

Now Prince is selling, with the deal likely to be announced later today. The investors are said to have close ties to Prince. One of them, Jason DeYonker of Forte Capital Advisers, helped Prince develop Blackwater's business plan.

Blackwater was a top contractor to the United States government in Iraq and Afghanistan. That began to change in 2007, when Blackwater personnel were accused of killing 17 civilians in Baghdad.

The company and its employees have faced civil lawsuits, criminal charges and congressional investigations. Prince has since moved to Abu Dhabi and resigned as CEO, though he stayed on as chairman.