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Shares in French night vision goggle maker Exosens jumped 17 per cent on their trading debut on Friday, the latest European defence group to go public as the Ukraine war stokes rising orders from armed forces.
The company raised €350mn in its initial public offering in Paris, giving it a market capitalisation of just over €1.1bn.
The listing comes amid rising investor interest in defence companies, which had been out of favour until Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Exosens’s initial public offering follows the February listing of German tank gearbox maker Renk, whose shares have since risen more than 30 per cent, although they have come off March highs.
Exosens’s backers, including private equity group HLD which holds almost 53 per cent of the shares, will retain control of the company. French state investment bank Bpifrance will also become a 4.5 per cent shareholder in a group that had drawn interest from a US suitor in 2020 in a deal that was later blocked by the French government.
Chief executive Jérôme Cerisier said the company — a specialist in digital cameras, detection systems and light-intensifying technology which also has clients in other industries such as nuclear power and life sciences — was looking to build on recent acquisitions in high-end technology.
A smaller group in a defence industry that is expected to consolidate in Europe, Exosens’s specialism in night vision binoculars and technology that has taken decades to perfect has given it an edge in an area where it estimates its market share at roughly 70 per cent outside the US. Its biggest customers are in Europe, where defence budgets have increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“There’s been a return in demand for night vision products as we’ve seen the return of high density conflicts, and night operations have become vital,” Cerisier told the Financial Times. “No one can envisage not being able to operate at night any more. It’s the very first thing armed forces on the ground want to have.”
Armies were even ordering such products for support staff and not just critical operatives, he added.
Exosens has invested in boosting its manufacturing capacity, which is up 60 per cent since 2021, Cerisier said, and will increase by another 50 per cent by year-end.
Headquartered in Mérignac near Bordeaux, where other defence groups including Dassault Aviation have factories, Exosens also has production sites elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as in Singapore and the US.
The group is forecasting sales growth of 15-20 per cent in 2024 after reporting revenues of €319mn last year, with adjusted profit margins steady at 29 per cent. Its IPO size was increased from an initial €180mn target, with a combination of newly issued shares and stock sold by existing investors.
Before its acquisition by HLD, the French government in 2020 blocked a roughly $550mn acquisition by US group Teledyne, citing national interests. Exosens was then known as Photonis, and was owned by France’s Ardian.
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