Thales agrees start of Exail takeover

A French navy at-sea demonstration of Exail's DriX USV. (DGA)

On 6 July 2026 Thales announced it had signed an agreement with the Gorgé family for the acquisition of their combined 35.51% stake in fellow French company Exail Technologies. The closing of the acquisition of the Gorgé family's stake is expected by the third quarter of 2027. The acquisition is to be made with a view to acquiring 100% of Exail, with closing expected at the beginning of 2028 at the latest, said Thales.

The price of EUR134 per Exail share implied an enterprise value for Exail of EUR3.9 billion (USD4.4 billion).

Thales aims to increase its presence in the underwater warfare market, and expand its capabilities in inertial navigation systems (INSs). Exail is a well known supplier of fibre-optic gyroscope (FOG)-based inertial navigation systems (INS) for naval, land, air, and autonomous platforms. Thales said that combined with products like its ring-laser gyroscope, their navigation portfolio could contribute to offerings in things like missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and aerospace. Quantum sensors is another area of future focus, with Thales intending to gain efficiencies through combined research and development (R&D) across the board, the company added.

With EUR479 million revenue in 2025, the ITAR-free equipment that Exail produces includes unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and related control centres installed on ships or land for stand-off mine countermeasures (MCM) operations. Thales, with its own MCM equipment, said in its press release that “the transaction is expected to accelerate the development of their [Exail's] unmanned mine countermeasures... with the two portfolios optimized and evolving.”