KNDS Taps Idle Car Plants and Sells Renk Stake as Record €33bn Backlog Fuels IPO Race
Published on 05/28/2026 at 13:03 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The defence group behind the Leopard tank and Caesar howitzer is racing to add factory space even as it clears the final hurdles for a long-planned dual listing in Frankfurt and Paris. Chief executive Jean-Paul Alary has confirmed talks with Mercedes-Benz about converting the carmaker’s underused Ludwigsfelde plant in Brandenburg, while a possible cooperation at Volkswagen’s Osnabrück site is also under review. The strategy: repurpose existing industrial infrastructure rather than build from scratch, accelerating output of armoured vehicles and land systems to match a surging order book.
That order book is what makes the capacity push urgent. KNDS closed 2025 with a record backlog of €33.1bn, almost double the level of two years earlier, driven by accelerated NATO rearmament following the latest geopolitical shocks. Net new orders worth €13.5bn landed in the year alone. Revenue rose 16% to €4.4bn, with the Land Systems Germany segment jumping 17.4% to €2.5bn, and operating profit climbed to €661m from €500m. Headcount has already reached 11,000, with more hiring planned for 2026.
On the balance sheet side, KNDS trimmed its stake in transmission specialist Renk on 19 May, placing 5.8m shares at €44.95 apiece in an accelerated bookbuild. The sale raised around €269m and cut the holding to roughly 10%. Market watchers view the move as targeted balance sheet tidying ahead of the IPO, which carries a potential enterprise value of €18bn to €20bn.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying KNDS?
That IPO still hinges on one document. Auditor PwC has yet to sign off on the annual accounts after an internal probe by law firm Freshfields examined a 2013 contract to supply Leopard 2s and Panzerhaubitze 2000s to Qatar (value: €1.89bn). The investigation has so far found no evidence of misconduct, and management says preparations for the dual listing remain “fully in line with the original timetable”. If PwC’s sign-off arrives by the end of May, a June or July launch is possible; a delay would push the float to September.
The ownership structure around the listing is unusually tight. The German government plans to buy a 40% stake through state-owned KfW, mirroring France’s existing holding. That would leave just 20% of shares in free float at the start. Both governments intend to reduce their stakes to 30% each over two to three years, eventually lifting free float to around 40% — a level more palatable for institutional investors and index inclusion. The Berlin debate over whether to settle for a 30% blocking minority instead remains unresolved, but the IPO window this year remains the company’s stated target regardless.
A special dividend of up to €2bn is also on the table for existing shareholders, adding further incentive to get the float done. For now, KNDS is running two parallel tracks: securing production capacity from the auto industry while waiting for the auditor’s green light. One document stands between the defence group and one of the largest European listings of the year.
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