EnerSys Offers $16 a Share to Acquire Ultralife at 166% Premium
Key Facts
EnerSys agreed to buy Ultralife for $16 a share in cash, a 166% premium to the unaffected closing price on Oct. 26, according to a summary of EnerSys’ statement distributed via Business Wire. The summary values the enterprise at about $320 million, while Ultralife’s announcement described the deal as all cash and including the assumption of net debt. The companies announced the agreement on Oct. 27, 2026. EnerSys’ statement headline linked the deal to expanding differentiated battery technologies and accelerating growth in the defense market. The announced consideration puts the pre-announcement share price and enterprise value at the forefront of the deal details.
The agreement came after Ultralife reported sales of $47.9 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $48.6 million in the same period of 2025. In the same period, diluted earnings per share under U.S. accounting standards rose to $0.15 from $0.05. Backlog totaled $117.5 million at quarter-end, compared with $84.5 million a year earlier. The company said the figure represented "the highest level in the company's history." The results combine a slight decline in sales with improved earnings per share and a clear increase in backlog.
The company’s two segments performed differently during the quarter. Battery and power products segment sales fell 3.7% to $44.2 million, with oil and gas and industrial sales declining 8.7% year over year. By contrast, medical battery sales rose 7.2%, according to Ultralife’s results. Communications systems sales increased 39.3% to $3.8 million. The divergence shows that growth in communications and medical batteries did not prevent a decline in the larger segment by reported sales.
Quarterly results showed the reported gross margin improving to 28.9%, compared with 23.9% in the second quarter of 2025. But that margin included a net recovery of $1.1 million in IEEPA fees. The company said the margin would have been 26.6% excluding the recovery. Gross profit was $13.9 million for the quarter, compared with $11.6 million a year earlier, according to its filing. The effect of the recovery puts the margin improvement in context when assessing the company’s performance ahead of the acquisition.
On future programs, Ultralife’s chief executive said several battery development programs are expected to move into production later in 2026. The company is also preparing to launch new products for government and defense programs, according to its quarterly results. The chief executive pointed to applications for defense unmanned underwater vehicles. His statement said, "several of these programs are expected to transition to production later this year." These programs add operational context to EnerSys’ announcement, which links the deal to expanding battery technologies and growth in the defense market.
The deal comes as EnerSys reported net sales of $935.6 million in the first quarter of its fiscal 2027, ended July 5, 2026, up 4.8% from $893.0 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The company had forecast second-quarter sales of $955 million to $995 million and adjusted diluted earnings of $3.15 to $3.25 a share. It set Nov. 11, 2026, as the date to report results for that quarter after the market close. EnerSys’ prior results and published outlook provide context on the buyer’s business scale, while the next quarterly results date remains set for after the deal announcement.
Ultralife shares closed at $6.01 on Oct. 26, the session before the deal announcement, while EnerSys shares closed at $169.38 that day. The $16-a-share offer represents a 166% premium to Ultralife’s unaffected close, according to the summary of EnerSys’ statement. Those closing prices do not reflect either stock’s movement after the announcement. EnerSys is scheduled to report its second-quarter results on Nov. 11, 2026. Those results are the next milestone cited in the disclosures issued after the agreement was announced.