By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Hugo Lhomedet
(Reuters) -NATO members are placing defence orders three to four years into the future instead of one, a change Theon International’s CEO called a “tectonic shift” that prompted the Cyprus-based defence firm to invest in France’s Exosens.
Theon said on Saturday it had agreed to buy a 9.8% stake in Exosens for 268.7 million euros ($311.9 million), or 54 euros per share, representing a 17.78% premium over Exosens’ last closing price of 45.8 euros on Friday.
Both companies supply night-vision gear, devices soldiers wear or mount on weapons, mainly to NATO armies.
Shares of Exosens were up 5% at 45.70 euros by 0840 GMT on Monday, after touching a record high of 52.10 euros apiece earlier in the session. Theon’s shares were down 3%.
The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, will secure Theon’s supply chain, as it already buys components from Exosens, and make it the second largest investor of the French company.
“The largest buyers in Europe are placing forward-looking orders for delivery between 2026 to 2028 and onwards,” Theon CEO Christian Hadjiminas said in a call with analysts on Monday.
“This surge in demand has brought to light a critical issue we have anticipated for some time: a shortage in night vision tubes,” he added.
Exosens’ products include image-intensifier tubes, a critical component of night-vision goggles.
The investment was not planned three or four months ago, Hadjiminas said, and cited the recent shift in NATO procurement patterns as the main driver for the decision.
Theon’s and Exosens’ shares have more than doubled in value this year, riding a wave of defence-sector optimism.
Theon, founded in Greece and headquartered in Cyprus, decided against getting a seat at Exosens’ board of directors, but it could happen should it raise its stake above 10%, Hadjiminas said.
Theon will also launch a capital raise plan by the end of January 2026, in the size close to its last placement, finance chief Dimitri Parthenis said during the call.
($1 = 0.8616 euros)
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Hugo Lhomedet in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
