French defense, aerospace, and advanced technologies company Thales has signed a binding agreement to acquire the Gorgé family’s 35.51% stake in Exail Technologies in a deal valuing the French high-tech group at about €3.9 billion, with plans to pursue a full takeover through a mandatory tender offer.
The deal values Exail at around €3.9 billion and marks the first step toward a full takeover via a mandatory tender offer.
Thales said the acquisition will significantly expand its underwater warfare and autonomous maritime systems portfolio by integrating Exail’s expertise in naval drones and navigation technologies, with expected synergies of more than €90 million by 2032. Closing of the initial stake purchase is expected by Q3 2027, with full ownership targeted for early 2028 pending regulatory approvals.
“With this acquisition, Thales and Exail plan to join forces. Together, thanks to our talents and capabilities, we will strengthen our high-technology industrial base and innovation for our world-class defence and civil customers, while reinforcing Europe’s technological sovereignty ,” Patrice Caine , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Thales, commented.
“ The Gorgé family is pleased to announce the divestment of its stake in Exail to Thales. Under the leadership of Gorgé SA, the 2022 combination of ECA Group and iXblue led to the creation of Exail, a French technological champion specializing in maritime robotics and navigation systems ,” Raphaël Gorgé , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Exail, commented.
Exail is a high‑tech dual industrial group specializing in technologies in robotics, navigation, aerospace and photonics. Headquartered in Paris, France, Exail is an ITAR-free group developing dual-use technologies for both defence and civilian customers in more than 80 countries.
Exail has developed a complete range of underwater drones, maritime surface drones or remotely operated maritime drones, which it designs, builds, and equips in different configurations depending on the target use case.
The firm’s drones are integrated into drone systems that collaborate with each other, under the supervision of a control centre installed on a ship or on land. Its flagship solution in robotics is the UMIS system, a last-generation fully autonomous drone system dedicated to mine countermeasures. It also develops the DriX, a high-endurance range of surface drones, able to address both civil and, increasingly, defence applications.
Through the intended acquisition of 100% of Exail, Thales will increase its scale in the underwater warfare market, benefiting from Exail’s significant expertise in unmanned mine countermeasures and maritime drone systems, the company highlighted.
By combining their capabilities in R&D, Thales and Exail will be well-positioned to further contribute to innovation in the field, notably in the high-demand unmanned anti-submarine warfare segment, leveraging artificial intelligence and autonomy across the combined portfolio, it was concluded.