KNDS Doubles Down: £1bn British Howitzer Order and €1bn Factory Bet Propel IPO Ambitions
16.05.2026 - 01:11:15 | boerse-global.de
The arms manufacturer KNDS is locking in a busy calendar as it pushes toward a summer IPO. A contract worth just under £1bn from the UK Ministry of Defence for 72 RCH 155 wheeled howitzers has added fresh momentum to an already ambitious growth plan. The deal, run through the ARTEC joint venture with Rheinmetall and the European procurement body OCCAR, covers not only the artillery systems but also initial training and in-service support.
Critically, approximately 500 British jobs will be anchored by the contract. KNDS UK will manufacture the BOXER drive module – including chassis, motor and drivetrain – in Stockport, with first deliveries slated for 2028 and an initial operating capability targeted before the decade ends. The RCH 155 system itself can fire eight rounds a minute and strike targets up to 70 kilometres away, slotting neatly into NATO's push for long-range, mobile artillery. It replaces AS90 systems that Britain handed over to Ukraine in 2023.
But the UK deal also underscores a deeper challenge: capacity. KNDS is in active talks to take over the Mercedes-Benz plant in Ludwigsfelde, Brandenburg, where it plans to invest around €1bn to build production lines for the "Boxer" armoured vehicle. Mercedes will shift its Sprinter chassis manufacturing to Poland by 2030, potentially freeing up roughly 2,000 employees for a future KNDS workforce. The Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück remains a fallback if the Ludwigsfelde negotiations collapse.
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The need for industrial scale is driven by a string of major orders. KNDS recently secured contracts for 350 Leopard 2 tanks from five nations. It also stands to gain from the Bundeswehr's "Arminius" programme, which could involve up to 3,000 Boxer vehicles with an estimated project volume of €40bn. The company aims to sextuple its output by the end of the decade to meet both domestic and export demand. Separately, it has submitted a bid for Iveco's defence division (IDV), which its Italian parent is selling off.
On the capital markets side, CEO Jean-Paul Alary reaffirmed on Friday that the original IPO timeline still holds. The management is targeting the earliest possible window before the summer parliamentary break, with listings in Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam already lined up. Investment bankers have been appointed, and analysts value the tank builder at around €20bn. Berlin, however, has pressed for a delay into the autumn, arguing it needs time to negotiate a direct state stake before the flotation.
That political wrangling is far from resolved. France already owns half of KNDS, and Germany wants to buy in to balance national security interests. The defence and finance ministries are pushing for a 40% holding, while the economics ministry and Chancellor Merz favour 30%. A 30% stake would be enough for a blocking minority under Dutch law – KNDS is registered in the Netherlands. Without an agreement before the IPO, the French side could end up dominating the shareholder register, a prospect that unsettles Berlin. KNDS has said it is open to a German entry but will not halt its market preparations in the meantime.
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