Israeli drone factory hit by Iranian missile
Veloryx’s newly acquired Aero Sol facility sustains significant damage hours after takeover.
An Iranian missile struck the Israeli defense drone manufacturer Aero Sol’s factory on Tuesday, causing significant damage just days after the company was acquired by Veloryx. The strike came hours after the takeover deal was announced, complicating plans to expand Aero Sol’s production and product lineup.
“Following a missile strike near the recently acquired Aero Sol factory, significant damage was caused to the factory,” the company said.
Veloryx develops, manufactures, and sells internal combustion engines and generators. The company is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange with a market value of NIS 213 million. In a statement to the stock exchange, it said, “The company is examining the extent of the damage to Aero Sol's operations.”
Aerosol, an Israeli company operating for 13 years, develops aviation products, including observation drones. On Tuesday, Veloryx announced it was purchasing 70% of Aerosol’s shares from controlling shareholders Lahav Invision (35%) and Israel Wasserlauf (65%) for NIS 25.125 million, divided equally between them.
As part of the acquisition, Veloryx has pledged to inject NIS 9 million into Aero Sol in nine monthly installments and will receive nine preferred shares after the injection period (preference only in the event of liquidation). The deal also gives Veloryx an option to purchase Wasserlauf’s remaining shares.
In its initial announcement, Veloryx stated that the funds flowing to Aero Sol were intended to support plant operations, improve efficiency, order components, expand the team, and broaden the product portfolio. The company emphasized that this would focus on Aero Sol’s existing drone family while allowing for improvements, additional products, or the development of new offerings.
Aero Sol is a long-standing player in unmanned systems, developing operational drone systems and producing composite materials exclusively for major defense companies. Its annual revenues range from NIS 15 to 20 million, with an EBITDA of approximately 20%.
The acquisition comes shortly after Veloryx completed a fundraising round of roughly NIS 19.5 million through a private offering of shares and options, with participation from IBI and Barak Capital, among others. The fundraising is intended to accelerate Veloryx’s business strategy in homeland security.
