Leonardo DRS on Monday said it had completed its all-stock merger with RADA Electronic Industries, clearing way for Leonardo DRS to become a public company, with its shares set to begin trading on the NASDAQ on Tuesday and followed Wednesday on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Leonardo DRS will take RADA’s place on the two exchanges and trade under the stock ticker symbol “DRS.” Leonardo DRS is a U.S.-based subsidiary of Italy’s Leonardo, whose shareholders will own an 80.5 percent stake in the new publicly traded company and RADA shareholders the remainder.
Leonardo DRS’s fiscal year aligns with the calendar year. In 2021, the combined sales of Leonardo DRS and RADA were $2.7 billion with $305 million in pre-tax operating earnings.
“We look forward to bringing Leonardo DRS’s mid-tier strength to the public markets with the addition of RADA’s leading tactical radar capabilities,” William Lynn, chairman and CEO of Leonardo DRS, said in a statement. “Leonard DRS’s broad exposure to fast growing segments in the defense market and market leading positions in advance sensing, force protection, network computing, and electric power and propulsion make us a unique defense contractor with a compelling growth outlook, margin expansion capabilities and a largely unlevered balance sheet.”
The acquisition also gives Leonardo DRS a suite of tactical radars for its product portfolio. RADA’s radars are used for vehicle protection, short-range air defense and counter-drone solutions for land and maritime forces, countering rockets, artillery and mortars, and hemispheric surveillance for strategic perimeter and border security.