Thales has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire, for US$ 1.1 billion, Cobham Aerospace Communications (AeroComms), a leading supplier of advanced, ultra-reliable innovative safety cockpit communication systems.
With about 690 employees, of which about 190 are engineers, the company operates across a well-invested footprint in France, South Africa, U.S.A. /Canada and Denmark. It is expected to generate US$200 million in revenue in 2023.
With this acquisition, Thales aims to pursue its strategy to strengthen its avionics portfolio, adding global leading position in safety cockpit communications, complementing Thales' strong avionics offering, incorporating recently developed cutting-edge products benefiting from solid positions with major OEMs and strong aftermarket/retrofit opportunities.
AeroComms designs, produces and supports a rich portfolio of avionics solutions focused on cockpit communications. Its product range notably includes full L-Band Satcom systems (antennas and transceivers), complete digital audio and radio management solutions and passive antenna systems enabling connectivity, communications and navigation.
AeroComms is strongly positioned to benefit from the OEMs ramp up and wave of operating fleet retrofit opportunities. As part of its ongoing product development, AeroComms has recently developed game-changing products that will support future revenue growth: Aviator-S in Satcom and DRAIMS in digital Audio/Radio. The company benefits from a diversified revenue exposure with defence customers representing about 30% of FY23E revenue.
By integrating AeroComms' unique leading safety cockpit communication systems portfolio, Thales will be ideally positioned to seize the opportunity of the shift towards connected cockpits. By the end of the decade, Thales will hence be able to fully address the permanent and secured connectivity needs of the aeronautical market.
Employee representative bodies of both Thales and Cobham Aerospace Communications will be consulted as part of the project. The closing of the transaction is expected during the first half of 2024 upon customary merger control and regulatory approvals completions. (£1.00 = US$1.29 at time of publication).
