THEON International Plc announces new orders totaling approximately €70 million. A significant portion of these orders comes from Rheinmetall as part of the Bundeswehr’s “Soldier of the Future” program (Infanterist der Zukunft – IdZ), in conjunction with a new firm order and purchase options for various products within the A.R.M.E.D. ecosystem.
Additional orders for the IdZ program may be placed later this year through additional purchase options, according to the announcement.
This new order further expands THEON’s central role in the soldier’s digital vision system within the IdZ program and underscores THEON’s overall ambition to become a leader in Augmented Reality (AR) for soldiers.
The value of new orders in the second quarter of the year, as expected, reached approximately €153 million, with an additional €27 million in purchase options, bringing the total value of orders since the beginning of the year to approximately €223 million, with an additional approximately €68 million in purchase options.
THEON expects further acceleration in the second half of the year, mainly toward the end of the fourth quarter, in line with the company’s typical seasonality, and reaffirms THEON’s target for new orders to exceed billings (a book-to-bill ratio above 1.0x) for the full year 2026.
Philippe Mennicken, Deputy CEO and Business Development Director at THEON, stated: “THEON is at the heart of next-generation soldier systems. These new orders demonstrate our customers’ confidence in THEON’s innovative capabilities and reflect the strong trust that has been built in the company’s technological excellence and execution capabilities.”
Strategic Acceleration
THEON continues to accelerate on all fronts, as evidenced by its recent strategic partnerships. THEON is intensifying its entry into drone technologies with last week’s announcement of a joint venture with Safran.
The joint venture, which remains at the MoU stage, will be 51% owned by THEON and 49% by Safran, with equal 50/50 management rights, and is part of THEON’s response to changing demand in the defense sector and the evolving nature of military operations.
The role of CEO of the joint venture will rotate between the two companies every three years (the first appointment will be made by THEON), while part of the joint venture’s activities will be conducted in Greece to maintain the Group’s operational base and its low-cost competitive advantage.
Last week was also marked by the announcement of THEON’s initial agreement to acquire HGH Systèmes Infrarouges (HGH) at a valuation of approximately €300 million, which marks THEON’s entry into the drone countermeasures sector.
HGH’s advanced artificial intelligence software is also expected to create synergies across THEON’s entire product portfolio, as well as in its portable systems. The acquisition is expected to be financed entirely through debt, resulting in pro forma leverage of approximately 3.0x net debt to EBITDA, which is estimated to decrease to approximately 2.5x by 2027.
In parallel with its investments in MERIO and Twin Prime during the current quarter, THEON continues its efforts to expand its capabilities in platform-based products and to diversify its revenue streams.