Aicox and Senda Buy Atika, Forming a €400M Spanish Defense Group
Spanish defense and communications company Aicox, together with private equity firm Senda Investment Partners, has completed the acquisition of Atika Technologies, a specialist in private 5G networks and next-generation connectivity. The deal is part of a strategy to build a large-scale Spanish defense group spanning military communications, electronic warfare and advanced technology.
Aicox, owned by the Laborda family, carried out the acquisition through a fund managed by Senda, led by Víctor García and Javier Olascoaga. Atika, a technology partner of Telefónica, supplies deployable connectivity solutions for different operational environments; its equipment has previously been tested during a NATO mission in Slovakia. The company’s founders and main shareholders are Rafael Argudo García de Lago and Guillermo Cervera de la Hera.
The resulting group is valued at around €400 million. Combined sales are expected to reach €110 million, with EBITDA above €30 million. Senda has committed to invest up to €300 million in Aicox to support the group’s industrial and technological growth plan.
Within the new group’s strategy, Atika is positioned as a technological pillar in critical communications, next-generation private networks and electronic warfare. The parties say the integration is meant to strengthen Spain’s “technological sovereignty” in these areas and expand the group’s capacity to develop and manufacture its own defense and critical-communications solutions.
As part of the growth plan, two new plants will be built in the Community of Madrid, with operations expected to begin in 2027 — a move aligned with the group’s goal of expanding domestic production capacity in critical communications and electronic warfare.
Cabal Capital provided financial advice to Atika in the deal and also acted as financial partner, coordinating the transaction’s structure. Legal and corporate advice was provided by Bores y Cía Abogados, Garrigues and Pérez-Llorca, while KPMG and PwC handled financial review and due diligence.
The transaction reflects a broader consolidation trend within Spain’s defense industry. Rising defense budgets across Europe are pushing mid-sized technology firms to merge into larger, integrated industrial groups, and Spanish investment funds appear to be taking an increasingly active role in that consolidation.
It remains unclear whether the Aicox-Senda group will pursue further acquisitions to expand its scale, or which specific products the new Madrid plants will focus on. The parties say more details on the facilities, due to begin operating in 2027, will be shared in the coming months.
The deal’s size marks a relatively high valuation for a mid-sized Spanish defense-technology firm, underscoring how rising defense budgets are sharpening private equity appetite in the sector. Atika’s deployable connectivity gear, already tested in NATO exercises, gives the group a product line with both domestic and export potential, and growing demand for rapidly deployable communications networks in crisis zones could keep that segment in focus in the coming years.
Sources
Infodefensa, “Aicox y Senda cierran la compra de Atika y avanzan en la creación de un grupo español de defensa valorado en 400 millones,” 3 November 2026, https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/6072489/aicox-senda-cierran-compra-atika-avanza-creacion-grupo-espanol-defensa-valorado-400-millones — primary source for deal structure, valuation and advisor details.
