Thermal imaging company FLIR Systems Inc. has acquired unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) developer Aeryon Labs Inc. for $200 million.
Aeryon develops drones for the global military, public safety and critical infrastructure markets. The company provides solutions including hardware, software, ground control stations and sensors. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Aeryon was founded in 2007 and also has offices in Denver and Salt Lake City.
Founded in 1978 and based in Wilsonville, Ore., FLIR is a maker of sensor systems, including infrared cameras for drones. Last year, FLIR debuted the Black Hornet 3 nano drone, suited for first responders, government agencies and the military.
“The acquisition of Aeryon Labs reinforces our long-term strategy to move beyond providing sensors to the development of complete solutions that save lives and livelihoods,” states Jim Cannon, president and CEO of FLIR Systems. “This acquisition, coupled with our acquisition of Prox Dynamics in 2016, greatly increases our unmanned systems solutions capabilities, expanding beyond nano UAS into Group 1 UAS solutions for military. We intend to continue to invest and build this area of our business and broaden our capabilities as we view unmanned and autonomous solutions to be a significant opportunity for organic growth in the coming years.”
“We’re thrilled to join the FLIR family and to have a large, growth-oriented technology company as our new home,” adds Dave Kroetsch, co-founder and chief technology officer of Aeryon Labs. “As drone technology and its markets evolve, customers are seeking UAS as just one component of a broader solution. While Aeryon has been evolving in that direction for the past few years, being part of FLIR Systems brings a path to include our hardware and software technologies in much bigger solutions than would have ever been possible on our own.”
Aeryon Labs is now part of the FLIR Government and Defense Business Unit’s unmanned systems and integrated solutions division. The transaction is expected to be $0.02 dilutive to FLIR Systems’ 2019 earnings due to anticipated product development investments, and accretive thereafter.
This announcement is of great magnitude, in that FLIR’s acquisition of Aeryon is a strategic manoeuvre that’s propel the UAV. industry further into the “Nxt-Lvl” of aerial hyper-surveillance BiG Up!