TLDR
- Shares of Aureus Greenway Holdings (AUGS) climbed 55% following a Wall Street Journal report detailing its merger with Powerus, a drone manufacturer supported by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
- This reverse merger arrangement will enable Powerus to become publicly traded on Nasdaq.
- Powerus has set ambitious goals to manufacture over 10,000 drones each month and has completed three company acquisitions within half a year.
- A $9 million private placement supports the deal, with Dominari Securities serving as the placement agent.
- The transaction coincides with the Pentagon’s $1.1 billion Drone Dominance program and new restrictions on Chinese-made drones in the United States.
Shares of Aureus Greenway Holdings (AUGS) experienced a remarkable 55% surge on Monday following a Wall Street Journal report revealing the Florida-based golf course holding firm’s planned merger with Powerus, a drone manufacturing company supported by the President’s sons.
Aureus Greenway Holdings Inc., AGH
The Trump sons, Eric and Donald Jr., are backing Powerus through American Ventures, their collaborative investment platform. This reverse merger arrangement will facilitate Powerus’s entrance to the Nasdaq stock exchange in the coming months.
Established last year with headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida, Powerus specializes in aerial and maritime drone systems and has rapidly expanded through three strategic acquisitions over the last six months.
The company has announced ambitious production targets exceeding 10,000 drones monthly. Achieving this output would position Powerus among the highest-volume drone manufacturers in the United States.
The investment group includes Unusual Machines, where Donald Trump Jr. serves on the advisory board and maintains an ownership position. Additionally, South Korea’s Corporate Governance Improvement Fund has pledged $50 million toward the transaction.
Dominari Securities, an investment banking firm with Trump family connections, is handling placement agent duties for the financing package.
The Deal Structure
On March 8, 2026, Aureus Greenway entered into an agreement to merge its subsidiary, Aureus Merger Sub Inc., with Autonomous Power Corporation through an all-stock transaction. Target company shares, options, and warrants will be exchanged for Aureus equity at a predetermined conversion ratio.
The merger terms feature a performance-based earn-out provision allowing for up to 50 million additional shares. Upon completion, board seats and executive management responsibilities will transfer to Autonomous Power’s existing leadership team.
The transaction’s completion depends on several factors: shareholder vote approval, Nasdaq listing authorization, and a $9 million private placement at $3.00 per share. This private placement was finalized with institutional and accredited investors on March 6, 2026.
Additional provisions include lock-up and leak-out agreements designed to control post-merger equity sales.
Pentagon Tailwind
This merger announcement comes at an opportune time as the Pentagon advances its Drone Dominance initiative, an expansive $1.1 billion procurement program designed to acquire hundreds of thousands of domestically-produced drone systems before 2027.
Concurrently, the Trump administration has implemented a ban on new Chinese drone acquisitions within the United States, creating expanded market opportunities for American manufacturers such as Powerus.
Powerus CEO Andrew Fox explained that the reverse merger pathway will provide the company with public market access, enabling capital raises to support manufacturing capacity expansion and additional strategic acquisitions.
Aureus Greenway presently maintains a market capitalization of $73.47 million. Prior to this announcement, the stock averaged 49,011 shares in daily trading volume.
Following the merger disclosure, technical sentiment indicators for AUGS have been upgraded to a Strong Buy classification.
