Ex Mossad chief, real estate moguls, investing in Aerodrome

The share price of UAV company Aerodrome Group (TASE: ARDM) has risen sharply in recent weeks following the announcement of investment by various parties. On Friday, the share price rose 4.5% after the disclosure that several well-known people had invested in the company: former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, and Barak Rosen and Asaf Touchmair, the controlling shareholders in real estate company Israel Canada.

Aerodrome, which for the past year has been headed by Mishel Ben Baruch, designs, develops, and produces unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for both military and civilian use, together with AI-driven data gathering, analysis and processing by means of UAVs.

Earlier this month, the company released a number of reports about investment. A group of investors will be allocated a 35% stake in it for NIS 41 million. Most of the shares will go to one investor who will hold a 32% stake and become the controlling shareholder. Later on, IBI Investment House joined the investor group. It will inject NIS 6.8 million into Aerodrome and increase its holding to 7%.

Meanwhile, Aerodrome announced a further private placement, to AgEagle Aerial Systems (NYSE: UAVS), which will buy a 7% holding in the company for NIS 9.2 million. Negotiations are taking place between the two companies on setting up a joint marketing and distribution arm in the US.

All of these investments will take place at a price of NIS 0.80 per Aerodrome share, which represented a premium at the time of the initial report at the beginning of the month, but which, because of the sharp rise in the share price since then, now represents a discount of about 78%. All of these transactions, in which about half the company’s share capital will be allocated to the new investors, are subject to shareholder approval. In an amendment to the shareholders meeting summons for April 23, the participation of Rosen, Touchmair, and Cohen was revealed.

According to the summons, the main investor in the original investment, Ronen Elad (through Elad Ronen Holdings) announced “a group of key people, intended to support and strengthen various strategic aspects of the company’s business,” the group consisting of the three people mentioned above. The summons states that according to Elad Ronen Holdings, “the cooption of Mr. Yossi Cohen, both as an investor and as part of the company’s leadership, will make a significant contribution to accelerating business development, strengthening the company’s ties internationally, and expanding its marketing and sales capabilities in global markets.” Concerning Rosen and Touchmair the summons states that their participation “will strengthen the company’s interfaces with the capital market and the financial system.”

Aerodrome recruits new investors as share price soars

No details were given about what official roles (if any) the three will have in the company. Subject to approval by the shareholders’ meeting, Elad will be appointed to the company’s board of directors.

Elad Ronen Holdings has given Rosen an option to buy over 22 million ordinary shares in Aerodrome, to be exercised within 120 days from the allocation to it (as mentioned, the shareholders’ meeting has to approve the allocation to Elad Ronen Holdings. The exercise price of the options is NIS 0.80 per share. Rosen will be entitled to transfer all or some of his options to Touchmair and/or Cohen.

If Rosen’s option is exercised in full, Elad Ronen Holdings’ stake in Aerodrome will be 15% and that of Rosen will be 14.3%. This is subject to completion of the investment by AnEagle. Toucmair and Cohen’s stakes were not detailed, and will be dependent on the exercise of Rosen’s option and on the transfer of part of the shares to the other two. If Rosen’s option is not exercised, Elad Ronen Holdings will be the controlling shareholder in Aerodrome.

Aerodrome became listed on the stock exchange in 2020 at a valuation of NIS 50 million. In the ensuing months its share price shot up to a peak that gave the company a market cap of over NIS 400 million, but investors’ enthusiasm then cooled off. A little over a year ago, the company’s share price plummeted after it was reported that the Ministry of Defense had reduced an order that had been worth NIS 73.6 million, and it later became known that the company delayed reporting the matter.

The previous CEO, Roy Degani, who founded the company, subsequently resigned, He currently serves as a strategic consultant to the company’s management, and still holds 22.4% of the shares, before completion of the current investment deals. The Israel Securities Authority later published an audit report that spoke of “a worrying and serious picture” concerning the board of directors’ ability to fulfil its responsibility to supervise the work of the company and its management because of “material gaps between the way in which the board perceived its function and the conduct of the company’s management.” The audit findings highlighted material flaws in the decision-making process at the company, with an emphasis on the former CEO. In December 2025, a search was carried out at the company’s offices and former and current managers were questioned.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on March 22, 2026.

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