Drone Maker Aevex Raises $320M in IPO Buoyed By Soaring Military and Investor Demand

Drone maker Aevex (AVEX) has raised $320 million in its New York IPO buoyed by soaring military and investor interest in drones during the Iran and Ukraine wars.

Trading Begins Today

The company said it sold 16 million shares at $20 each after marketing them for between $18 and $21. It is understood that the IPO was multiple times oversubscribed.

The group is valued at $2.2 billion and is expected to start trading today – April 17 – on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AVEX. Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC) and Jefferies Financial (JEF) are leading the offering.

Aevex makes Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and multi-mission Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) – essentially drones in the air and at sea.

These systems have shown how effective they are in shaping modern warfare in the Ukraine war and more recently with Iran using drones to attack Israel and the Gulf states.

Ukraine War Demand

According to Bloomberg, a large portion of the company’s revenue last year came from Ukraine. 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.

Demand is expected to grow, including from President Trump’s administration, which is expected to prioritize innovative defense contractors as it looks to modernize its missiles and attack systems. The aim is to produce deadly weapons cheaper and faster than ever before.

Indeed, Aevex has said that demand for unmanned systems will grow to $11 billion in the U.S. and $26 billion globally by 2030.

It follows the listing this week of fellow industrial firm Arxis (ARXS), which raised $1.13 billion in a U.S. IPO this week driven by demand for its aerospace, defense and space components.

What Other IPOs are on the Way?

Let’s look at what other IPOs are on the way with our TipRanks IPO pipeline.