Photonis

Who owns Photonis?

Photonis is currently owned by Bpifrance Investissement through Midcap Equity (2020 vintage), since 2021. Across its history, Photonis has been through 3 private equity ownership periods, detailed in the timeline below.

Hand-verified · updated 2026-04-21

About Photonis

Photonis, which now trades under the Exosens brand, is a French photonics company that designs and manufactures amplification, detection and imaging technologies for low-light and other demanding environments. Its core products include image intensifier tubes for night vision, photodetectors, neutron and gamma detectors, and infrared and scientific cameras, serving defense and security, nuclear safety, life sciences and industrial testing markets. The company is behind one of the most widely used night-vision tubes among Western defense forces, and its detectors are integrated into mass spectrometers, space telescopes and high-energy physics experiments worldwide. Following a series of acquisitions, the group reported revenue of about EUR 468 million in 2024, employs more than 2,000 people across roughly 12 production and R&D sites in Europe and North America, and generates the large majority of its sales outside France.

Ownership journey

Photonis traces its origins to 1937, when it was established at Brive-la-Gaillarde in southwest France as an electronics subsidiary of Philips, taking the Photonis name in 1998 after leaving the Philips group. In July 2008 Astorg acquired the business, investing through its Astorg IV fund, and held it until 2011, when it exited via a secondary transaction. Ardian, then operating as AXA Private Equity, backed the company from 2011 through its Buyout Fund V and exited in 2021, again via a secondary. Bpifrance invested from 2021 through its Midcap Equity strategy and remains a minority shareholder, and the company listed on Euronext Paris under the Exosens name in June 2024.

Under PE ownership

Under Astorg's ownership between 2008 and 2011, Photonis roughly doubled its image-intensifier manufacturing capacity and its R&D spending, positioning it to ship about twice as many tubes. During the Ardian period the company continued to invest in photodetection and imaging technology, broadening beyond defense into scientific, nuclear and industrial applications. Since 2021 the business has pursued an active buy-and-build strategy under the Exosens umbrella, absorbing companies such as Xenics, Emberion, El-Mul, Noxant and Phasics to widen its infrared and detection portfolio. Its June 2024 IPO on Euronext Paris raised roughly EUR 350 million, and the group has grown revenue toward EUR 468 million while investing around 7.6 percent of sales in R&D and building a portfolio of more than 300 patents.