AeroVironment acquired Pulse Aerospace, LLC for $25.7 million, a transaction completed in June 2019, structured as All cash ($25.7 million including up to $5 million milestone-based earn-out), funded from cash on hand.
Pulse Aerospace, LLC operates in Small unmanned aircraft systems (VTOL SUAS), is based in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. AeroVironment acquired Pulse Aerospace, LLC, a Lawrence, Kansas-based developer and supplier of small vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft systems. Pulse's HeliSynth technology delivers flight control, payload and endurance capabilities for defense and commercial end markets, and its Vapor VTOL line had just won a multi-year contract worth up to more than $13 million from an undisclosed defense customer. AeroVironment paid $25.7 million in cash, including up to $5 million of milestone-based earn-out payments, entirely from cash on hand.
The complementary VTOL product family strengthened AeroVironment's fixed-wing small UAS portfolio and expanded its addressable market by adding vertical-lift mission capabilities and payload capacity.
A differentiated small-VTOL technology set with a fresh multi-year defense contract award, complementary to AeroVironment's fixed-wing small UAS. AeroVironment Innovation Center - Midwest (Lawrence, Kansas) Pulse Aerospace's Lawrence, Kansas facility became the AeroVironment Innovation Center - Midwest, focused on small VTOL unmanned aircraft and mission-planning solutions.
The talented Pulse Aerospace team has created a solution set that is unique and will expand our family of unmanned systems by addressing increasing demand from our customers for small VTOL solutions.Wahid Nawabi, President and CEO, AeroVironment
AeroVironment's global market presence dramatically increases the reach of Pulse's VTOL UAS technology. Pulse's offering expands AeroVironment's mission capabilities with increased payload capacity, which broadens customer use cases.Aaron Lessig, CEO, Pulse Aerospace
Advisory firms were not disclosed for this transaction.