Franco-German tank maker KNDS has announced plans to float on the Paris and Frankfurt stock exchanges, pressing ahead with one of Europe’s largest defence listings in years even as the sector endures a sharp sell-off.
The company, which builds the Leopard 2 and Leclerc battle tanks and the Caesar howitzer, said that its current owners would sell about 20 per cent of its shares to institutional investors. Trading is expected to begin in the first half of July.
KNDS chief executive Jean-Paul Alary said Europe was “entering a new era of defence and security”. He described the listing as a natural next step for the group, which was formed in 2015 from France’s Nexter and Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
Reports have valued the company at between €15 billion and €18 billion ($17 billion to $21 billion), below earlier estimates of around €25 billion. No new shares would be issued, with the stake handled through private placements rather than a public offering.
The flotation follows an agreement between Paris and Berlin, announced on June 22, to become equal shareholders. France, which currently owns half of KNDS through the state holding GIAT Industries, would cut its stake to 40 per cent, while Germany would buy a matching 40 per cent from the company’s German family owners through state lender KfW.
Germany would also keep a golden share in the German subsidiary, giving it a veto over strategic decisions. Neither government could let its holding fall below 30 per cent for a decade without the other’s consent.
The Amsterdam-based group reported revenue of €4.4 billion in 2025, up 16 per cent, with earnings before interest and tax of €661 million. Its order book stood at €33.1 billion at the end of the year.
The listing has come during a difficult stretch for European arms makers, whose shares soared after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine but have retreated in recent months. Investors have grown sceptical that governments’ rearmament pledges would translate quickly into profit.
Shares in rival Rheinmetall, which has lost about a quarter of its value this year, fell as much as 15 per cent on June 24 after reports that Germany had dropped plans for a major warship programme.
KNDS has been the latest defence group to seek a listing, after Czech arms manufacturer Czechoslovak Group floated in Amsterdam in January.
