Red Cat Holdings has offered €39 a share in cash for all of Steyr Motors, the Austrian company that builds engines for military vehicles and boats. Steyr has 5,251,261 shares, so the offer of 19 October is worth about €205 million by FlightBrief’s arithmetic. Neither company gave a total.
Red Cat is best known for the Black Widow, a small reconnaissance drone. Under its Blue Ops name it also builds uncrewed surface vessels, and it says Steyr’s engines would strengthen that business. Jeff Thompson, Red Cat’s chief executive, pointed to Steyr’s “proven marine engine technology”.
Steyr already sells into that market. Its 2025 annual report says it has started supplying engines for uncrewed boats in the United States. Neither company has said whether Blue Ops boats use them.
What Steyr’s shareholders are offered
Red Cat says the price is 28.9% above Steyr’s closing price on 16 October. Steyr’s revenue was flat at €22.8 million in the first six months of 2026. Its adjusted operating profit fell to €0.1 million, from €3.4 million a year earlier. Steyr blamed defence customers calling off orders later than planned.
Steyr’s 2025 annual report forecast 2026 revenue of €75 million to €95 million. In August it cut that to growth of 15% to 25% on 2025’s €48.5 million. It still reports an order backlog of €310 million running to 2030, including engines for nearly 500 US Navy SEAL boats.
Who has agreed so far
B&C Holding Österreich, Steyr’s anchor shareholder with about 15%, has agreed to tender all its shares. Julian Cassutti, Steyr’s chief executive, says he will tender his own. Rolf Wirtz, who chairs the supervisory board, said the board views the deal “favorably”, pending the offer document.
The offer needs 50% plus one share to succeed, so Red Cat must win over holders of roughly another 35%. It also needs investment approvals in Austria, Italy, Australia and the UK. Red Cat calls the offer fully financed but has not said how.
This is the second attempt. In July Steyr confirmed it had negotiated with Red Cat over a takeover, and Red Cat said the same day that it had withdrawn a non-binding proposal.
Red Cat has promised to keep Steyr’s headquarters, factory and engineering in Austria and to keep selling engines to other customers. The offer document has not yet been published. Red Cat expects acceptances to close on 18 December at 5 p.m. CET, and Steyr expects the deal to complete in the first half of 2027.
