MUNICH: Franco-German defence group KNDS has put plans for a stock market listing on hold until market conditions improve, it says, shelving what would have been one of Europe’s largest defence initial public offerings (IPOs) in recent years.
KNDS said last month it planned to list shares in Frankfurt and Paris.
A source said that the maker of the Leopard 2 tank and Caesar howitzer was likely to be valued at around €15bil (US$17.07bil) in the IPO.
KNDS, formed through the combination of Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter, generated revenue of €4.4bil in 2025 and ended the year with an order backlog of €33.1bil.
The family owners and the French state, which each hold 50% of the shares, are expected to sell 10% each in the IPO.
The families intended to sell all their shares as part of the flotation, with Germany due to acquire a 40% stake and the remainder to be sold to institutional investors.
According to a report by the Financial Times (FT) however, the German owner families are not prepared to accept a valuation of less than €12.5bil, with some investors telling the firm that it could be worth less. A company spokesperson had declined to comment on the FT report. — Reuters
