Insider links surface in Ondas’ Indo acquisition
Co-CEO Oshri Lugassy’s consulting firm stake highlights overlap between buyer and seller.
One of the beneficiaries of the acquisition of Israeli engineering equipment company Indo Earth Moving by the U.S.-registered holding company Ondas is Oshri Lugassy, co-CEO of Ondas Israel.
Lugassy is also the owner of the consulting firm Target Solutions, which holds a 30% stake in Indo. Approximately 50% of Indo is owned by its CEO, Eli Hefetz, while the remaining 20% is held by Zion Sapir.
According to Ondas, the acquisition follows Indo’s win in a strategic tender from a major military customer, the details of which were not disclosed. The company said the contract is valued at approximately $140 million.
A Calcalist investigation indicates that, beyond Lugassy’s indirect stake in Indo through his consulting firm, there are prior professional ties between the key shareholders. Lugassy, Hefetz, and Sapir all previously held roles at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Lugassy, a former chief engineering officer in the IDF, served until shortly before the October 7 war as Rafael’s vice president of marketing for the Israeli market. Sapir also worked in Rafael’s marketing division and represented the company in Singapore. Around six years ago, he was appointed chairman of drone company Aerodrome Group.
Aerodrome came under scrutiny about four months ago when investigators from the Israel Securities Authority raided its offices and questioned senior executives on suspicion of securities law violations. Shortly afterward, the company reported losing a drone tender from the Ministry of Defense.
Indo’s CEO, Hefetz, also previously worked in Rafael’s marketing division, where he was responsible for advancing the company’s business activities in India.
Ondas, which is listed on the Nasdaq with a market value of approximately $5 billion, has in recent months pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy focused largely on Israeli defense companies. In January, it raised around $1 billion from an undisclosed investor, a lack of transparency that has raised questions within Israel’s defense establishment and among regulators.
The company’s portfolio now includes 13 defense firms, with four acquisitions completed in the past week and a half alone. This expansion is taking place alongside an ongoing review by the Ministry of Defense’s Director of Security of the Defense Establishment, which is delaying Ondas’ attempt to acquire mPrest, a company involved in developing command-and-control units for Rafael’s Iron Dome system.
Rafael currently holds a 43% stake in mPrest. Ondas is seeking to acquire shares from other shareholders in a deal estimated at around $100 million, valuing the company at approximately $200 million, a move that could leave Rafael as a minority shareholder.
In parallel, Ondas is also attempting to acquire additional Rafael subsidiaries, including Controp Precision Technologies and Aeronautics. These efforts come as at least ten former senior Rafael executives, including former CEO Yoav Har Even, have joined Ondes over the past year.
Addressing the structure of the Indo deal, Ondas said that it does not constitute a related-party transaction. “The indirect connection involving the relevant executive was reviewed and approved in accordance with the company’s corporate governance rules, with full transparency and compliance with all regulatory requirements,” the company said.
Ondas added that the acquisition is part of a broader strategy to build an integrated value chain in ground robotics. “This is part of a strategy to establish a complete autonomous system operating ahead of forces in the field,” the company said.
