Willkie is advising Preligens and its shareholders, including Tikehau Capital, the fund managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, 360 Capital Partners, Wendel and the management, in the company’s proposed sale to Safran, a French multinational aerospace and defense corporation listed on Euronext Paris. On June 24, Safran announced that it entered into exclusive discussions to acquire 100% of Preligens for an enterprise value of 220 million. Based in France, Preligens provides field-proven AI analytics solutions for high-end imagery, full motion video and acoustic signals. Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation, defense and space markets, with a market capitalization of ca. $40 billion. The potential acquisition would add state-of-the-art AI capabilities to Safran’s product offering and further Preligens’ international expansion, in particular in the U.S. market. The Willkie team is led by partner Fabrice Veverka and includes partner Faustine Viala, counsel Philippe Grudé, and associates Lafia Chaib, Yacine Maamri and Maud Boukhris.