Sarah Sybert
AE Industrial Partners has acquired UAV Factory, a provider of tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) technology, AEI reported on Thursday. With the purchase, UAV Factory will serve as an unmanned technology platform for AEI. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“UAV Factory’s engineering and technical capabilities, combined with its proven and growing set of technology solutions, are truly differentiated in the market,” said Jeffrey Hart, principal at AEI. “We are excited to partner with the talented UAV Factory team and are confident that our collective strategic vision for an unmanned technology platform will yield powerful results in this fast-growing market.”
UAV Factory has delivered tactical UAV designs and products to defense, intelligence and commercial customers across the globe. The company has leveraged vertical integration strategy to develop airframes, engines and stabilized EO/IR ISR payloads for the unmanned and manned aircraft industry.
“UAV Factory is at the forefront of the burgeoning global UAV market,” said Kirk Konert, partner at AEI. “Its first mover advantage and unique vertical integration of its proprietary technology solutions well-positions the Company to expand its share of this high growth market.”
One of UAV Factory’s aircrafts, the Penguin C series UAV, has delivered 20 hours of flight time. Additionally, the company’s Octopus ISR gyro-stabilized sensors have been leveraged to support critical ISR missions.
“UAV Factory is poised for increased growth and market share,” said Konstantin Popiks, co-founder of UAV Factory, who will remain with the company in a senior leadership role. “By working closely with the AEI team, we plan to expand our technologies to provide our customers with the best-in-class, end-to-end solutions they need to make critical decisions.”
AEI’s legal advisor was Kirkland & Ellis and its financial advisor was PricewaterhouseCoopers. Blank Rome and Walless was the legal advisor and Houlihan Lokey served as the financial advisor to UAV Factory.
