MILAN, June 21 (Reuters) – Italian defense group Leonardo posted the biggest rise in the Stoxx 600 index on Tuesday morning after its U.S. subsidiary DRS announced its takeover of Israel’s RADA Electronic Industries, which will allow DRS to be listed on the Nasdaq.
Leonardo shares gained 7.26% to 10.45 euros at 08:25 GMT while the Stoxx 600 rose 1.05%.
The agreement announced before the opening provides for the acquisition by DRS of the entire capital of RADA, a specialist in tactical radars, then the purchase by the current shareholders of the Israeli of 19.5% of the new group.
At the end of the operation, which should be completed in the fourth quarter, DRS will be listed on Nasdaq and on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Leonardo said, without specifying the financial terms of the agreement.
According to the broker Akros, the project values DRS around 2.3 billion euros, or about ten times the gross operating surplus (Ebitda) expected this year.
“Even if not detailed, the potential synergies resulting from the merger could be ‘significant'”, adds the intermediary, who estimates that the overall value of the whole of DRS-RADA represents almost half of the capitalization Leonardo scholarship holder.
The Italian group had given up in March 2021 to IPO DRS, bought in 2008, citing uncertainties about the evolution of military spending in the United States and investor concerns about the impact of the expected rise in interest rates. interest.
(Report Gianluca Semeraro and Agnese Stracquadanio, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Kate Entringer)