Delta Drone : and Mare Nostrum groups decide to reorganize their partnership in Aer’Ness

Partners since 2017 in Aer'Ness, Delta Drone and Mare Nostrum have entered into an agreement that reorganizes their respective involvement in order to support the development of this business' various activities covered by several operating subsidiaries, mainly Aer'Ness Intérim, ATM Group SRA, Aer'Ness Event and Aer'Ness Training.

In the first phase of the agreement, Mare Nostrum acquires from Aer'Ness 100% of the Aer'Ness Intérim subsidiary and 65% of Aer'Ness Event (the remaining 35% will remain within the hands of management). This transaction frees Delta Drone from any capital investment in the temporary-employment sector, the direct consequence of a decline in the use of drone pilots for the performance of services and its strategic focus on professional solutions with fully automated drones. For its part, Mare Nostrum, a known specialist in the field of Human Resources, will reinforce its market positions and be able to include these two companies in its scope of consolidation.

In the second phase of the agreement, Mare Nostrum transfers its 42.5% interest in Aer'Ness to Delta Drone, which thus becomes majority shareholder at 85%. Aer'Ness' main asset is the majority stake (65%), alongside management, in the ATM Groupe SRA subgroup, specialized in private security via its subsidiary ATM Group Sécurité (itself having absorbed Aer'Ness Security in December 2019). This transaction will allow Delta Drone to accelerate the dronification of the private-security sector that is already underway. At the same time, this will allow Mare Nostrum to divest itself of a non-strategic asset at a time when the context of the health crisis is pushing it to focus efforts on its areas of expertise.

In the third phase of the agreement, Delta Drone transfers to Mare Nostrum all the shares held pursuant to the Mare Nostrum IPO, acquired under the share buyback program. As a reminder, in December 2018, Delta Drone subscribed for a reserved pre-IPO issue of convertible bonds, converted into shares at the time of the IPO. In view of this transfer, Christian Viguié, Chairman and CEO of Delta Drone, has resigned from his position on Mare Nostrum's Board of Directors.

In the final phase of the agreement, Delta Drone transfers to Mare Nostrum its 50% interest in Ergasia Campus.

These coordinated and collaborative concurrent transactions are essentially based on share exchanges and offsets. They therefore do not require significant cash flow for either party.

Upon signing the agreement, Nicolas Cuynat, Chairman and CEO Mare Nostrum, said, 'This concerted reorganization closes an important chapter in our recent history. The creation of Aer'Ness allowed us to discover the world of drones and show that our offer could absolutely have a place in this new growth industry. Beyond that, Delta Drone's support was invaluable to our successful IPO. For these two reasons, the experience has been both enriching and exciting. I have no doubt that our friendly relations will continue after we turn the page and move on to new ventures.'

For his part, Christian Viguié, Chairman and CEO of Delta Drone, stressed that, 'It is in large part thanks to the creation of Aer'Ness that we were able gain a foothold in the private-security sector, which gave substance to our concept of dronification of a traditional industry. Simultaneously, thanks to Mare Nostrum's expertise, we experimented with a new way of using temporary drone pilots, which was a significant innovation in the field of civilian drones. Today, we are amicably redefining and clarifying our relationship, which is likely to continue as we go forward.'