Fincantieri has reached agreements to buy majority interests in four Italian subsea technology companies for an initial investment of roughly €600 million ($685.1 million), the company said.
The shipbuilder will take controlling stakes in Next Geosolutions (BIT:NXTGE), WSense, Graal Tech and Defcomm. After the announcement, Fincantieri shares rose by as much as 14%.
According to the company, the acquisitions broaden its footprint across several niche areas of subsea capability. Those areas include marine survey and geoscience services, support for marine construction activities, unmanned underwater and surface drone systems, and wireless communication platforms intended for the Internet of Underwater Things.
Fincantieri said the transactions assemble a combination of technologies and specialist teams that can address both military and civilian customer requirements.
On a pro-forma basis, Fincantieri’s underwater technology operations are expected to generate €1.1 billion of revenue and €220 million of core profit this year. The company noted these figures mean the underwater businesses would achieve their 2030 financial targets four years ahead of the previously planned timetable.
Management also projected that the acquisitions should add more than €60 million to group net profit in the current year and about €130 million by 2030. Earnings per share is forecast to increase by about 30% by 2028 and by roughly 20% by 2030.
Context and implications
The acquisitions align Fincantieri’s traditional shipbuilding base with adjacent subsea technologies, expanding its addressable market within marine services and underwater systems. By folding survey, drone and wireless subsea capabilities into the group, Fincantieri positions the underwater segment as a larger contributor to consolidated financials on a pro-forma basis.
For investors, the immediate market reaction was positive, as reflected in the share price gain following the disclosure of the deals and the company’s forward-looking profit and EPS projections.
Limitations
Information provided by the company presents projected and expected contributions to profit and EPS growth; these items are described as pro-forma and forecasted figures rather than realized results.