AeroVironment purchases SLO-based ES Aero for $200M
San Luis Obispo-based Empirical Systems Aerospace, a producer of unmanned aircraft systems, has been purchased by a fellow Central Coast company.
Announced March 16, AeroVironment, which is based in Virginia, but houses major operations in its former headquarters of Simi Valley, purchased ES Aero in a deal worth approximately $200 million.
According to details of the deal, approximately $160 million will be paid in stock and the remainder in cash. The transaction is expected to be accretive to adjusted EBITDA in the first year following the close, AeroVironment said in a press release.
Once the deal is complete, ES Aero will operate as a subsidiary of AV, reporting into AV’s Precision Strike and Defense Systems group, under the Loitering Munition Systems business unit, furthering production capability in AV’s existing line of loitering munitions, missiles, drones and existing adjacent domains. ESAero leadership and employees are expected to integrate into AV’s operations and culture post-close, the company said in a press release.
“ESAero brings an impressive agility in moving from design to manufacturing, which will accelerate AV’s ability to bridge the gap between conceptual design and manufacturing execution,” said Wahid Nawabi, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at AV. “ESAero’s capabilities are vital to addressing the urgent demands of a fast-growing defense tech market, where emerging needs are driving next-generation innovation and product development. We look forward to welcoming the team to the AV family.”
ES Aero was founded in 2003 by five friends who graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, including president and CEO Andrew Gibson, CFO Benjamin Schiltgen and COO Trevor Foster. ES Aero was honored by the Business Times in 2024 at its annual Central Coast Innovation Awards for innovation in aerospace.
“Joining AV represents a unique opportunity to amplify the reach and impact of our innovative work and achieve greater success,” said Gibson. “By combining ESAero’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities with AV’s unmatched expertise in autonomous systems, we are positioned to advance disruptive aerospace technologies and deliver real, timely value for our customers. I’d like to thank the talented ESAero team for their unwavering dedication, whose efforts have brought us to this pivotal point in our journey.”
The acquisition will further solidify AeroVironment’s position as a global defense technology leader spanning air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains and enhance the Company’s ability to seamlessly transition from innovative design to advanced manufacturing — a capability critical to addressing the urgent demands of an evolving defense tech market, the company said in a press release.
Shares of AeroVironment, which have been hot over the past year, climbed 2% on March 16 behind the acquisition news, closing at $211.88.
The acquisition is AeroVironment’s first purchase since its $4.1 billion buy of BlueHalo in May 2025, marking the second transaction for the defense tech leader in less than a year.
