Dronemaker Aeronautics Rejects Acquisition Offer by Israeli Defense Contractor Rafael
Last week, government-owned Rafael and Israeli businessman Avihai Stolero filed $116.6 million offer for Aeronautics
For daily updates, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.
In the filing, Aeronautics said it is rejecting the offer due to what it perceived to be a low valuation.
Drone by Aeronautics. Photo: PR Aeronautics specializes in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for military use and has over 45 customers worldwide. A police investigation in Israel regarding a deal Aeronautics signed with an undisclosed, non-Israeli client, which was launched in November 2017, has been hampering several of the company’s deals and damaging its performance on the stock exchange. An Israeli court issued a sweeping gag order on the investigation, reportedly linked to an incident in which Aeronautics had allegedly carried out a live demonstration of one of its suicide drones on an Armenian army post at the request of its client, the Azerbaijani army.
- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Presents New $8.1 Billion Missile Defense Plan
- This Startup’s Solution to Attack Drones? Sending in a Bigger Drone
- Israeli and U.S. Defense Robotics Companies Quarrel Over China Ties
Aeronautics' stock has lost over 61% of its value since the company listed on Tel Aviv in June 2017. The company’s stock is currently up as much as 2.49%.
Government-owned Rafael and Stolero intended to buy all of Aeronautics’ shares and delist it from the Exchange. Last week, a spokeswoman for Rafael told Calcalist the offer was part of the company’s international expansion plan.
