The French group Thales will buy Exail Technologies, a specialist in marine drones and navigation systems, to strengthen European technological sovereignty.
Thales announced on Monday an agreement with the Franco-Belgian group Exail Technologies, an expert in mine-hunting drones and navigation systems, with a view to a takeover. The agreement first provides for the acquisition by Thales of the stake of the Gorgé family, a French family industrial group which controls Exail, with the aim of a 100% buyout after the launch of a public purchase offer (OPA) which would value the company at 3.9 billion euros. Thales will offer, both to the Gorgé family and to other shareholders, a price of 134 euros per share, or “a premium of 44% compared to the unaffected price of the Exail share on June 25, 2026”.
The acquisition of the Gorgé family’s stake is expected to be finalized “by the third quarter of 2027”. The takeover bid must be completed “by early 2028 at the latest”.
A buyout following the failure of discussions with Safran
This agreement comes three days after the announcement of the end of discussions between Exail and the French engine manufacturer Safran, which was also in the running for a takeover. Safran and Exail Technologies ended their negotiations on July 3, 2026, having failed to reach an agreement on the terms of the buyout.
Exail Technologies is the result of the merger between ECA Group and iXblue. Exail has been manufacturing marine drones for over 20 years. It reached a milestone in 2019 with a major minehunting contract for the Belgian and Dutch navies. Since then, its order book has increased tenfold, to more than a billion euros.
In 2025, Exail Technologies achieved a turnover of 479 million euros, up 28% year-on-year, more than half of which was in the defense sector. The group has 2,200 employees and develops dual technologies for civil and military customers in more than 80 countries.
Exail is also recognized for its inertial units. These systems capable of estimating position and heading are essential in the design of drones and essential when GPS is jammed. Tensions in the Middle East and traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have since reinforced the strategic interest of these autonomous systems, which have become essential for securing maritime lanes.
An issue of European technological sovereignty
“Together, through our talents and capabilities, we will strengthen our high-tech industrial base and the innovations we develop for our world-class civil and military customers, while strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty,” said Patrice Caine, President and CEO of Thales, quoted in the press release.
“By joining Thales, Exail and its teams will benefit from a strengthened capacity to develop leading sovereign and dual technologies for a growing customer base on a global scale,” added Raphaël Gorgé, Chairman and CEO of Exail.
