AEVEX sets the size, specs of its public offering

AEVEX Corp., a manufacturer of autonomous and uncrewed systems, has laid out the terms of its pending initial public offering as the company seeks to tap into heightened investor interest in defense technology.

AEVEX plans to offer investors 16 million shares at a price range of $18-to-$21 each, which would raise between $288 million and $336 million in capital through the sale of its stock. The IPO’s underwriters also have a 30-day option to buy an additional 2.4 million shares if investor demand outstrips the initial supply, AEVEX said Thursday.

If all goes according to plan, AEVEX would hit a valuation of $2.35 billion through the sale of its stock in the public markets. AEVEX shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “AVEX.”

Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners first acquired AEVEX in 2020 and will remain the controlling shareholder through its ownership of 79.1% of the combined voting power of its outstanding stock, according to regulatory documents also filed Thursday. That holding will reduce to 76.7% if the underwriters exercise the option to buy more stock for sale to investors.

With this IPO, AEVEX and its owner are opting to follow the same path that other defense and space companies have gone down amid conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. Both are highlighting the role of drone and other software-driven tech tools in modern military strategy.

Voyager Technologies and Firefly Aerospace both completed their public offerings in 2025, while York Space Systems closed its IPO in January. The specter of SpaceX’s IPO also looms large over the global economy, not just the defense and space sectors.

AEVEX recorded $432.9 million in revenue for 2025 on a net loss of $16.8 million, figures that show a 10% year-over-year sales increase and significant bottom-line improvement from the $78.6 million net loss from 2024.

U.S. government work represented about 78% of that revenue profile for 2025 and funded backlog totaled around $503 million as of Dec. 31.

The company’s product lines include precision strike systems, loitering munitions and software for use in complex or GPS-denied environments.

AEVEX is headquartered in Solana Beach, California and was founded in 2017 by Brian Raduenz. He stepped down from the chief executive role in November and succeeded by Roger Wells, a three-decade defense industry veteran and former executive at Mercury Systems and FLIR Systems.

Raduenz transitioned to executive chairman of the board of directors and will continue in that position post-IPO.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BofA Securities and Jefferies are acting as joint lead bookrunning managers for the proposed offering. J.P. Morgan, RBC Capital Markets and Baird are acting as bookrunning managers.

William Blair, Raymond James and Needham & Company are acting as bookrunners. Academy Securities, Capital One Securities and PNC Capital Markets LLC will serve as co-managers.