Vision Marine proposes merger with undisclosed defence firm
Canadian electric boatbuilder and outboard manufacturer Vision Marine Technologies has signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) for a proposed merger with an unnamed private firm operating in the defence and AI sector. The transaction is expected to be structured as a “reverse takeover” of Vision Marine and would result in a change of control at the firm.
In a statement issued to shareholders, Vision Marine confirms that, if completed, shareholders of the counterparty would own approximately 97.1 per cent of the combined company, while existing Vision Marine securityholders would own approximately 2.9 per cent based on the base transaction consideration and before the proposed financing.
Firm remains unnamed
The firm’s identity and other commercial terms remain confidential while due diligence is carried out and definitive agreements are negotiated. The LOI does not require either party to complete the transaction.
The proposed transaction would combine Vision Marine’s marine electrification activities with the counterparty’s unmanned and autonomous systems, which, according to information provided by the counterparty, are focused on aerial applications for defence, government and critical-infrastructure uses.
“Vision Marine has always been built around anticipating where technology is going next,” says Alexandre Mongeon, chief executive of Vision Marine. “We entered electric propulsion because we believed electrification would reshape the marine industry. Today, we see another transformation underway as artificial intelligence, autonomy, sensing and secure communications change how vehicles operate across multiple environments.”
“We started with electrification. We believe the next chapter is intelligence and autonomy,” Mongeon adds.
In the statement, Vision Marine says the combined company could pursue opportunities linked to increased demand for unmanned and autonomous defence capabilities in the US, NATO member states and allied countries.
Transaction conditions
Completion remains subject to due diligence, definitive agreements, board and shareholder approvals, stock exchange approval and a concurrent or pre-closing financing of at least US$25m.
The counterparty must also obtain at least US$100m of aggregate binding purchase orders for 2027 deliveries.
The parties intend to execute definitive agreements on or before 15 October 2026 and complete the transaction on or before 31 December 2026.
Reverse stock split
The news comes as Vision Marine Technologies implements a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common shares when markets open tomorrow (26 August 2026), reducing the number of outstanding shares from about 6.53 million to approximately 653,046.
The split is intended to increase the company’s share price and help it regain compliance with Nasdaq’s US$1 minimum bid price requirement, although there is no guarantee it will do so.
