Business — FR
Tikehau Capital set to take control of Toulouse-based drone maker Delair
An investment vehicle with an €800 million target
The transaction was revealed by a press release from Morocco's competition authority, spotted by local media outlet Barlamane. Tikehau Capital states in it its intention to acquire sole control of Delair. The investment firm is using Ace Aéro Partenaires 2, a sector-specific vehicle dedicated to aeronautics, which is targeting assets under management of €800 million. The amount of the transaction is not public, nor is the closing date.
Delair has designed, produced and sold fixed-wing aerial observation drones since 2011, with headquarters in Toulouse and a production chain that it says it fully controls. Its range covers several segments. The UX11, at 1.4 kg, flies for up to 59 minutes with a range of 53 km, with an extended battery option of 80 minutes and 70 km. The DT26, at 15 kg, reaches 170 minutes of endurance and a link of 30 to 50 km depending on version. The DT46, at 20 to 25 kg, goes up to 6 hours 30 minutes in fixed-wing configuration and 3 hours 30 minutes in VTOL, with a 100 km link encrypted using AES-256. The DT61, at 100 kg, claims up to 10 hours of flight and 15 kg of payload.
Revenue multiplied by five between 2022 and 2024
Revenue at Bastien Mancini's company rose from €10 million in 2022 to €50 million in 2024. The aerial observation drones designed, produced and sold by Delair have been certified "Origine France Garantie" since 23 March 2023, a certification awarded after an audit by an independent body.
This financial trajectory accompanies a broadening of applications. Delair claims the first drone certified for beyond visual line of sight flight in civil airspace, in 2012, for power line inspection. The company today addresses surveillance of linear infrastructure, mapping and security and defence applications.
Colibri, Nexter and Ukraine: the defence side
At the end of 2022, two pairs had been selected to progress work on a remotely operated munition with a minimum range of 5 km and at least 30 minutes of endurance: Delair/Nexter and Novadem/MBDA. This Colibri programme, launched by the DGA and the Defence Innovation Agency, targeted a unit cost below €20,000, a ceiling likely to be revised downwards in light of the announced volume.
During a visit to Delair, Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced the purchase of 2,000 remotely operated munitions, intended for the French armed forces and Ukraine. This first tranche was to be delivered in 2024 and 2025. In parallel, 100 MTOs were ordered from Delair and Nexter, based on a UX11 platform modified to carry a military payload of around 500 grams.
The Ukrainian link predates this order. A contract covering 150 UX11 and DT26 had been signed in July 2023 and was nearing its end. A new batch of 150 additional units was to be delivered in the following weeks and months, according to the Minister for the Armed Forces.
The amount and timetable of the transaction remain unknown
Neither Tikehau Capital nor Delair has publicly confirmed the terms of the transaction in the available information. The price, the signing date, the capital structure after acquisition and the fate of the management team are not documented. The composition of the investor base of Ace Aéro Partenaires 2 is not detailed either.
The filing with the Moroccan competition authority indicates that a regulatory notification has been submitted, although it is not known which jurisdictions have yet to rule. For an operator already equipped with DT26 or UX11, no change is announced at this stage to product support, spare parts or maintenance commitments.
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