Kraken Robotics Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Covelya Group Limited (“Covelya Group”), a leading international provider of mission-critical underwater technology solutions operating through its subsidiary companies: Sonardyne International Ltd., EIVA A/S, Forcys Ltd., Wavefront Systems Ltd., Voyis Imaging Inc., and Chelsea Technologies Ltd.
The Company will acquire Covelya Group for total consideration of $615 million, excluding transaction costs and subject to adjustment, of which $480 million will be paid in cash and $135 million will be satisfied through the issue of common shares of the Company (“Common Shares”, and such Common Shares the “Consideration Shares”) to the seller pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated March 3, 2026 (the “Share Purchase Agreement”), between Kraken, its subsidiary Kraken Robotic Systems Inc. and Sonardyne Holdings Limited (the “Acquisition”).
Acquisition Rationale
- Positions Kraken as a major supplier of dual-use subsea technology.
- Combined revenue of $365 million in 2025 with a Combined Adjusted EBITDA margin of 24%.
- Acquiring a high growth (24% revenue CAGR since 2023), profitable company with attractive margins.
- Allows for deeper customer relationships in the fast-growing defense and maritime surveillance market.
- Expands product offering and Kraken’s total addressable market in subsea technology.
- Adds strategic locations for geographic expansion and improves business diversification.
- Bolsters technical capabilities with an experienced engineering team and highly advanced facilities.
- Accretive across key financial metrics with opportunity for revenue and cost synergies.
- Maintains balance sheet strength with flexibility to fund future growth.
- Capitalizes on supportive trends in both defense and non-defense sectors, including energy.
Covelya Group Background
Covelya Group designs, manufactures, sells and supports high-performance underwater technology for maritime defense and commercial customers globally. Through its subsidiary companies, Covelya Group provides a sophisticated suite of technology and software centered around providing reliable navigation, communication, positioning, imaging, measuring, and monitoring for maritime uncrewed systems, as well as some crewed surface vessels. In addition to being a sub-systems provider, Covelya Group also offers stand-alone capabilities, notably deployed sensors and remotely operated towed vehicles (ROTVs). They are a large, highly profitable, high-growth organization that is expected to report revenue in 2025 of between $249 million and $275 million. Covelya Group is headquartered in the United Kingdom with nearly 750 employees, operating 12 facilities across North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific. With a track record of more than 50 years in underwater technology, Covelya Group has a strong history of innovation, quality manufacturing, and customer service in addition to extensive, trusted relationships across a diversified client base.
Management Comments
“We have long admired Covelya Group and its operating businesses and are very pleased to join forces with its talented team,” said Greg Reid, President and CEO of Kraken. “Strategically, this acquisition will provide a unique opportunity to combine two leading subsea technology providers with complementary products, operating in markets with barriers to entry and high growth potential. Additionally, some key customers of Covelya Group are also existing customers of Kraken, providing significant opportunities to create value by cross selling within our overall client base.”
“The combined company will be able to provide more integrated solutions of mission-critical systems for underwater platforms and subsea sensors/monitoring systems,” said Reid. “These key technology systems include Kraken’s subsea batteries and synthetic aperture sonar and Covelya Group’s subsea navigation, positioning, and communications offering. In supplying multiple products and services, Kraken will become a more attractive partner to naval system integrators at a time when industry demand is growing rapidly. This accretive acquisition also enhances our technical capabilities, expands our total addressable market, and improves overall business diversification. We look forward to this combination and the potential to create value for shareholders, customers, employees, and other stakeholders.”
Simon Partridge, Executive Chairman of Covelya, said “We have mutually admired Kraken’s technology alongside its management team and believe this transaction is extremely beneficial to both companies. For Covelya Group, we will be able to leverage Kraken’s experience in the rapidly growing defense and maritime surveillance market while also enhancing our product and service-based offerings. The combined company will have a broad product portfolio and a stable customer base, with in-house technological capabilities required to enable the rapid growth expected for underwater vehicles. As part of a larger and well-capitalized enterprise, we will have a greater ability to re-invest in developing new technologies in addition to addressing the larger, more complex needs of our customers. We are extremely excited about today’s announcement and the opportunity to accelerate the new company’s growth trajectory moving forward.”
