UAE’s EDGE Buys Majority Stake in Milrem Robotics
EDGE, a United Arab Emirates state-owned defence conglomerate, has bought a majority stake in Estonia’s unmanned ground vehicle developer Milrem Robotics. Milrem will join EDGE as a new entity within its Platforms & Systems cluster. The value of the stake has not been disclosed, but the companies’ announcement described it as “the largest foreign investment in Estonia’s growing defence industry.”
Milrem have made a name for themselves within the sector developing first their THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles and.most recently unveiling their Type-X unmanned combat vehicle, and the MIFIK land vehicle autonomy package.
“Milrem Robotics carried out an intensive investment round aimed at finding ways to support further expansion, and EDGE Group, which comprises 20 different state-of-the-art technology and defence entities across multiple domains, offered the best opportunity for us to realise our ambitions of further international growth,” said Kuldar Väärsi, founder and CEO of Milrem Robotics, “the investment in our company by EDGE is a great testament to the success of Milrem Robotics, and an encouraging assessment of our development so far, and of the products and technology we have developed.”
In a statement H.E Faisal Al Bannai, Chairman of EDGE Group, said:
“EDGE’s investment in Milrem Robotics, a company with an established reputation as a leader in the fields of robotics and autonomous systems, is also an investment in the future of EDGE, which is laser-focused on the development of such capabilities across its multiple domains. It will allow us to realise both companies’ objectives and ambitions with agility in an increasingly diverse and fiercely competitive marketplace, to share technology and expertise, and to provide Milrem with the necessary support to expand its resources and talent base for further international growth as part of EDGE, and to also contribute to the growth of Estonia’s sovereign defence industry.”
Milrem Robotics will continue to be based in Estonia’s capital Tallinn and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, who became a minority stakeholder in 2021, will continue to work with Milrem and EDGE.