Grupo Akaer won a contract in July 2022 to modernize EE-9 Cascavel 6×6 armoured vehicles of the Brazilian Army (Victor Barreira)
United Arab Emirates defence conglomerate EDGE Group has reached an agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Brazilian aerospace and engineering company Grupo Akaer, the company announced in a 16 July statement. The value of the acquisition was not made public.
The acquisition remains subject to customary conditions precedent and regulatory approvals, the statement said.
If completed, Grupo Akaer would be the third Brazilian defence contractor acquired by EDGE Group since September 2023. The conglomerate previously acquired Condor Tecnologias Não Letais, which develops non-lethal technologies, and SIATT – Engenharia, Indústria e Comércio, which develops and manufactures anti-ship and anti-tank missile systems.
EDGE Group has invested BRL3 billion (USD590 million) in Brazil to date, Pedro Oliveira de Sá, senior manager for new business development for EDGE Group, said on 7 July during the Brazilian Marine Corps’ “IV Symposium on Defence and International Security: Issues and Perspectives”.
Grupo Akaer, which principally consists of Akaer Engenharia and OPTO Tecnologia Optrônica, was founded in 1992 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo state, and is active in the aeronautics, space, defence, and optronics markets.
It has a workforce of 770 and has been certified as a strategic defence company by the Secretariat of Defence Products of the Brazilian Ministry of Defence since 2013.
In April 2023, EDGE Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Grupo Akaer that provided a framework for the companies to combine expertise and deliver critical capabilities.
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