KNDS to float on Frankfurt and Paris exchanges as France and Germany cement equal 40% stakes

Ownership structure after the IPO

KNDS confirmed that 20% of its shares will be sold to institutional investors through private placements, with no public offering. Under the agreement struck days before the announcement, France and Germany will each hold 40% of the company once the listing is completed. The French state currently owns 50% and will reduce its stake, while the German government will purchase the 40% block from the Bode and Von Braunbehrens families, who until now held the other half of KNDS through their ownership of the former Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

The two governments committed not to reduce their holdings below 30% without the other’s consent over the next decade and will each be able to appoint three board members as long as they remain above that threshold. Important decisions will require agreement between both sides.

Valuation and market ambition

Sources cited by Reuters put the likely IPO valuation at around €15 billion, with one earlier estimate ranging between €15 and €18 billion based on Germany’s planned stake purchase. KNDS itself described the flotation as one of Europe’s biggest defence IPOs in years. The listing follows a wave of defence-sector public offerings, including Czech arms group CSG’s €25 billion market debut in January and German warship builder TKMS’s €5.15 billion valuation at its October 2025 listing.

KNDS generated record revenue of €4.4 billion in 2025, a 16% jump from the previous year, with earnings before interest and tax reaching €661 million. The company is targeting 30% revenue growth this year. Its 11,000-strong workforce supplies more than 40 armies worldwide.

A strained Franco-German defence partnership

The IPO arrives at a delicate moment for cross-border military projects. The next-generation FCAS fighter jet programme, a joint effort of France, Germany and Spain, was scrapped earlier this month after long-running industrial disputes. The Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), intended to replace Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks, is running about ten years behind its original timeline, according to French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin.

KNDS CEO Jean-Paul Alary told journalists at the Eurosatory exhibition that he could not comment on the political decision-making surrounding MGCS but warned that its collapse would be "very bad news for Europe". The company has already launched an interim tank called CAPINT, combining a German chassis and a French gun, to compensate for the delays in France’s Leclerc renewal. Germany is pursuing a parallel intermediate solution through KNDS Germany and Rheinmetall under the Leopard 2AX label.

Defence markets cool despite spending boom

Despite a multi-year boost from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Trump administration’s prodding of European allies to invest in their own security, defence stocks have lost momentum. On Wednesday, the SXPARO aerospace and defence index slipped 1.7%. Shares in Rheinmetall, which lost a major warship contract to rival TKMS, dropped 12.3%. Thales and BAE Systems each fell roughly 2%.

Europe is entering a new era of defence and security. Armed forces are modernising at speed and rebuilding critical land defence capabilities. The planned IPO is a natural next step for KNDS.

KNDS expects to complete the listing within weeks, with traders pointing to 13 July as a probable date before the Paris bourse’s summer break.