(Bloomberg) — Aevex Corp. shares rose 23% after the maker of military drones raised $320 million in a US initial public offering.
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Shares of the Madison Dearborn Partners-backed firm traded at $24.51 each as of 3:18 p.m. on Friday in New York, versus an IPO price of $20 apiece. The offering of 16 million shares was marketed in a range of $18 to $21 each.
The trading gives Aevex a market value of $2.74 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in its filings.
A substantial portion of the company’s revenue last year came from Ukraine, the filing shows. Its two main unmanned systems programs, called Phoenix Ghost and EUCOM AOR Deep Strike, have delivered or committed to deliver more than 9,300 systems, representing more than $1.2 billion in contract value through the end of this year.
“The activities we have seen in Ukraine and more recently in Iran just validate the fact that autonomous unmanned systems are going to be a part of modern warfare now and long into the future,” Roger Wells, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a Bloomberg Television interview Friday.
As defense budgets shift toward advanced technologies, Aevex is well positioned to benefit from rising investor focus on the sector. The Trump administration is expected to prioritize newer contractors as it expands and modernizes its missile stockpile, directing funding toward companies that can produce weapons faster, at lower cost, and with more advanced technology while easing supply chain constraints exposed by recent conflicts.
Aevex is validated by the fact that the US government’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal came in over $50 billion for the same types of systems that the company brings to the market, Wells said.
“We are able to execute in highly contested environments where GPS is denied, communications are jammed and electronic warfare is pervasive with technologically sophisticated adversaries,” he said.
The company had a net loss of $16.9 million on revenue of $432.9 million for the year ended Dec. 31, compared with net income of $78.5 on revenue of $392.2 million a year earlier, according to its filings.
Madison Dearborn and CoVant Management acquired the company in a $450 million leveraged buyout in 2020, according to data provider PitchBook. Madison Dearborn was expected to hold 79% of the shareholder voting power after the IPO, the filings show.
