KNDS Sets Sights on Asia-Pacific and US Markets as €20bn IPO Nears Approval
Published on 06/23/2026 at 17:45 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The European defence contractor KNDS is racing toward a dual listing in Frankfurt and Paris that could value the company at €15bn to €20bn, with official confirmation possible within days. The flotation, pencilled in for July, comes after Berlin and Paris hammered out an equal ownership structure that clears the way for the IPO while keeping the tank maker under joint state control.
Germany plans to acquire a 40% stake from the German family owners who together with their French counterparts hold half of KNDS NV. France will simultaneously trim its own holding to the same level, creating a clean parity between the two governments. The Bundestag's budget committee is due to vote on the transaction on Wednesday, and the European Commission already gave the new control structure an unconditional green light in mid-June.
The ownership realignment frees up a free float of roughly 20%, giving public investors a meaningful, if minority, slice of one of Europe’s largest land-systems manufacturers. KNDS, born from the merger of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter, builds the Leopard 2 and Leclerc battle tanks that are in heavy demand as European armies rebuild stockpiles and support Ukraine.
That demand is already reflected in the books. Revenue rose nearly 16% last year to €4.4bn, while operating profit jumped from €500m to €661m. More striking is the order backlog, which swelled to €33.1bn — equivalent to 7.5 times annual sales, a multiple that would dwarf most industrial groups and underscores the structural tailwind from rising defence budgets.
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Fresh export contracts are adding to the momentum. On 16 June, during the Eurosatory defence fair, KNDS signed a deal with Malaysia for 18 CAESAR 155mm self-propelled howitzers. The order makes Malaysia the 15th operator of the system, which has now been ordered or delivered in roughly 800 units worldwide. Malaysia joins Indonesia and Thailand as the third CAESAR customer in the Indo-Pacific, a region where demand for NATO-standard 155mm artillery is steadily climbing.
An even larger prize is on the horizon in Washington. The US Army plans to award a contract by July for up to 500 self-propelled howitzers, with production possibly beginning in 2028. KNDS has teamed up with Leonardo DRS to compete against South Korea’s Hanwha, Rheinmetall, and Elbit America. Winning that tender would give KNDS a foothold in the world’s most powerful defence market — a game-changer for a group still heavily reliant on European orders.
To keep its edge, KNDS is also pushing into next-generation capabilities. At Eurosatory it unveiled TARGAS, a fully integrated system that detects and neutralises drones, cruise missiles, and helicopters in a single closed loop. A day earlier it showed a containerised drone launcher built around a 20-foot ISO container, housing Helsing HX-2 loitering munitions for offensive strikes and Tytan TI-1 METIS interceptors for defence. The unit operates autonomously with its own power, cooling, and network links. Also new is the MTO-T, KNDS’s first ground-launched loitering munition, developed using lessons from the war in Ukraine to protect troops during breach operations.
KNDS at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
All pieces are now in place for the IPO, provided the Bundestag gives the green light on Wednesday. The families that own half of KNDS NV have already consented to selling 40% to the German state. If the budget committee approves, the listing in both Frankfurt and Paris should follow before the summer recess — giving investors a rare chance to buy into a defence powerhouse with a €33bn order book and ambitions that stretch from Kuala Lumpur to Washington.
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