American Robotics to acquire Airobotics

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American Robotics’ Scout System and Airobotics’ Optimus system. | Source: Ondas Holdings

American Robotics, a subsidiary of Ondas Holdings, announced it signed a term sheet to acquire Airobotics, an Israeli developer of autonomous unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The merger is expected to close in the second half of 2022. 

The acquisition is intended to accelerate American Robotics’ technical development and regulatory roadmap and expand the breadth of applications, use cases and vertical AR targets. Combining American Robotics and Airobotics also means bringing together leading engineering and aviations talent and two world-class technology platforms.  

The deal is still subject to the satisfaction of a few conditions, according to Ondas. Among other things, the two companies need to prepare, negotiate and execute a definitive agreement, and receive any required board and shareholder approvals. The companies have agreed to an exclusivity period until the earlier of August 4, 2022, or until an agreement is reached. 

According to Ondas, each issued and outstanding share of Airobotics is expected to be inverted into and exchanged for 0.16806 shares of Ondas common stock. 

“We look forward to joining the Ondas family and the American Robotics team,” Meir Kliner, CEO and co-founder of Airobotics, said. “Ondas Networks has demonstrated market leadership in the development of their wireless and automated industrial technology platforms, and American Robotics has pioneered fully automated drone operation through its precedent-setting FAA beyond visual line of sight approvals. This combination will offer Airobotics the opportunity to expand globally, especially in the United States, which we believe is the largest market for our Optimus System.”

Airobotics’ Optimus System is an autonomous unmanned aircraft system that focuses on high-value applications within the industrial, homeland security and smart city services market. The system includes an industrial-grade drone-in-a-box and the Optimus Airbase, which allows for robotic battery and payload swapping. 

The Scout System from American Robotics includes Scout, a fully-autonomous drone, ScoutBase, a weatherproof charging and edge computing station and ScoutView, a fleet management and analytics software. Scout is intended for industrial, agricultural, and defense markets. 

“Airobotics’ Optimus System is a sophisticated automated drone platform designed for high- value use cases in industrial, homeland security and smart city services markets,” Eric Brock, chairman and CEO of Ondas, said. “The proposed acquisition of Airobotics will provide strategic technology, regulatory, and business capabilities to both American Robotics and Ondas Networks, opening new geographies and end markets and further strengthening our ability to deliver complete end-to-end solutions for customers on a global scale.”

American Robotics was acquired by Ondas Holdings in May 2021 for $70.6 million. The company recently added seven additional sites of operation approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its automated beyond visual line of site (BVLOS) drone technology. It was the first company approved by the FAA to operate automated drones without human operators on-site.