Thales to buy French underwater-drone maker Exail in $4.5 billion deal

Thales has agreed to buy 35.5% of French underwater-drone maker Exail Technologies from the Gorgé family and plans to make a tender offer for the remainder of the company at an implied enterprise value of €3.9 billion ($4.5 billion), beating a competing offer by Safran. Thales will offer €134 per share for the remaining shares, a 44% premium to the share price before Safran announced talks. Safran ended its exclusive negotiations on Friday after failing to reach mutually acceptable terms. Exail provides maritime drones for European autonomous mine-hunting systems, and Thales stated the acquisition aims to increase its scale in the underwater warfare market and expand its capabilities in inertial navigation systems. The purchase of the Gorgé family stake is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, followed by a mandatory tender offer for all shares and convertible bonds expected to close by early 2028. Thales expects the acquisition to add to earnings per share from the first year and generate over €90 million in operating profit by 2032. Exail had 2025 revenue of €479 million and an order book of €1.1 billion. Thales said the purchase will strengthen its underwater warfare business, allow it to gain market share in inertial navigation systems, and help accelerate development of quantum sensors, with the potential to generate additional revenue of €500 million within 10 years.