Ondas to Buy GATE Technologies in $205 Million Mixed Deal
The autonomous-systems company said the Israeli target adds a mission-critical layer to its Precision Strike platform and widens engineering and customer reach across allied markets.
Ondas Inc. (ONDS) entered a definitive agreement to acquire GATE Technologies Ltd. for $205 million, the majority of which is payable in cash, plus a working-capital adjustment and up to $185 million of performance-based earn-out consideration.
The mixed-structure deal is the latest step in a rapid run of defense acquisitions by the autonomous-systems company, which has already closed or agreed purchases of Rotron Aerospace, Roboteam, BIRD Aerosystems, Mistral and DZYNE Technologies.
Ondas said the GATE purchase adds a mission-critical technology layer to its Precision Strike platform and expands engineering, production and customer access across the United States, Europe, Israel and allied markets.
“GATE is a highly strategic addition to Ondas,” said Eric Brock, Chairman and CEO of Ondas. “Munitions stockpiles are being rebuilt around the world, and a new generation of low-cost, autonomous munitions is becoming a growing part of the battlefield.”
That framing follows a year in which Ondas has layered strike, propulsion, ground robotics, airborne protection and U.S. prime-contracting capability onto its Ondas Autonomous Systems book. Rotron Aerospace, completed in March, supplied long-range unmanned aircraft and aero-engines and became the company’s U.K. go-to-market platform. Mistral, a $175 million merger completed the same month, added direct U.S. Army and Special Operations contract vehicles and about $264 million of backlog. DZYNE Technologies, acquired in July for $875.8 million in cash and stock, sits with World View inside a new U.S. defense division called Ondas Sentinel.
GATE’s earn-out of up to $185 million is larger than the $205 million headline price, tying a substantial share of the eventual payout to post-close performance. The cash-heavy base consideration and the working-capital adjustment leave the closing value subject to the target’s balance sheet at the closing date.
Ondas has described its broader program as a systems-of-systems architecture spanning ISR, counter-UAS, precision strike and autonomous effects for U.S. and allied customers. The GATE deal extends that architecture into the munitions layer and into Israel, a market where the company has already sourced airborne missile-protection technology from BIRD Aerosystems.
The acquisition is expected to broaden engineering, production and customer access in the United States, Europe, Israel and allied markets. Closing conditions and the expected completion date were not detailed in the announcement.