Thales Agrees €3.9 Billion Deal to Acquire Drone Maker Exail Technologies

TLDR

• Thales agreed to buy a 35.51% controlling stake in drone maker Exail from the Gorgé family at €134 per share
• The deal values Exail at an enterprise value of €3.9 billion, a 44% premium to its unaffected share price of €93.15
• Exail stock rose around 3.3% on the news; Thales stock gained roughly 1.6–1.85%
• The deal follows Safran ending its own takeover talks with Exail just days earlier
• Thales plans a full takeover, with the Gorgé stake purchase expected to close in Q3 2027

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Thales has agreed to buy a controlling stake in French drone maker Exail Technologies in a deal that values the company at €3.9 billion.

The French defence electronics group signed a binding agreement with the Gorgé family to acquire their combined 35.51% stake in Exail at €134 per share. That price represents a 44% premium to Exail’s unaffected closing price of €93.15 on June 25, before reports of third-party interest first emerged.

Thales stock was up around 1.85% to €242.60 in early trading Monday. Exail stock rose roughly 3.3% to €126.50, though it remains below the offer price of €134.

Thales S.A., THLLY

The deal comes just days after Safran ended its own exclusive takeover talks with Exail without reaching an agreement. Thales moved quickly, and its offer of €134 per share topped Safran’s proposed price of €128.50.

Why Thales Wants Exail

Exail is Europe’s largest supplier of maritime mine-countermeasure robotics and the world’s second-largest provider of naval inertial navigation systems. The company was formed through the 2022 merger of ECA Group and iXblue and posted €479 million in revenue in 2025.

Citi said combining Exail’s underwater robotics with Thales’ existing underwater warfare capabilities “makes sense,” adding that inertial navigation is increasingly important in GPS-contested environments.

Thales CEO Patrice Caine said the companies see the anti-submarine warfare addressable market growing nearly tenfold, from €85 billion in 2025 to over €700 billion by 2030.

Analyst Julien Thomas at TP ICAP Midcap called Thales the only “natural potential buyer” for Exail, noting the French government — which owns 26% of Thales — likely encouraged the deal. He said he does not expect antitrust issues.

What Thales Expects from the Deal

Thales said the deal should generate more than €90 million in adjusted EBIT synergies by 2032, including over €60 million in cost synergies by 2030.

Commercial synergies are expected to deliver €500 million in additional revenue over ten years.

The company said the acquisition would be earnings-per-share accretive in the first full year after completion, with returns on invested capital exceeding its weighted average cost of capital by year five.

Thales added that its pro forma 2027 net financial leverage would sit at around 0.7 times, preserving its investment-grade credit rating, with no change to its dividend policy.

Exail’s board unanimously welcomed the transaction.

Following the purchase of the Gorgé stake, Thales plans to launch a mandatory tender offer for all remaining Exail stock and ODIRNANE bonds at the same €134 price. That offer is expected to close by early 2028, with the full takeover subject to antitrust and regulatory approvals.

The initial Gorgé stake purchase is targeted to complete in the third quarter of 2027.

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