Safran unit agrees to acquire Orolia to expand in PNT market

2022.07.11 2 min read

WASHINGTON ― French company Safran Electronics and Defense, a subsidiary of Safran Group, said it agreed to buy positioning, navigating and timing equipment manufacturer Orolia. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition, which has been in negotiations since December, pushes Safran further into the PNT technology and equipment sector. Orolia specializes in atomic clocks, time servers and signal simulation equipment, as well as emergency locator beacons for aircraft and military applications.

Martin Sion, CEO of Safran Electronics and Defense, said he hopes the acquisition of Orolia would launch Safran globally as a leader of PNT technologies.

“The acquisition of Orolia makes Safran one of the only companies with the full complement of PNT technologies, bringing together Orolia’s precise time referencing and Safran Electronics & Defense’s proven inertial navigation solutions,” he said in a statement. “Our shared ambition is to become the world leader in resilient PNT for all conventional and strategic applications.”

Safran’s purchase of Orolia will complete a “cohesive set of PNT architectures” to meet the needs of industries including aviation, defense and space, the company said.

With revenues exceeding $100 million, Orolia employs more than 400 people across North America and Europe.

Safran Group develops and manufactures aircraft and rocket engines as well as aerospace and defense-related equipment abd components. The company, formed by a merger between SNECMA and the defense electronics specialist SAGEM in 2005, had more than 15 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in revenue last year.

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