Thales outbids Safran to take control of drone firm Exail

Sound industrial rationale

Thales said in its statement that by 2032, the deal should generate more than €90 million of adjusted earnings before interest and taxation and savings at run rate.

It added it expected the main synergies to come from joint RD and the combination of the companies' commercial and production platforms, estimating commercial synergies could yield €500m in additional revenue within 10 years.

Julien Thomas at TP ICAP Midcap said that Thales was the only "natural potential buyer for Exail" as the industrial rationale for a takeover by Thales was far clearer than for Safran. He said the French Government, which owns 26 per cent of Thales, must have encouraged the deal and he didn't expect any antitrust issues.

Thales said the deal is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2027 after customary antitrust and regulatory approvals.

(Reporting by Jakob Van Calster and Hugo Lhomedet in Gdansk, Florence Loeve in Paris Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton)