Overview

• Officials in Berlin are evaluating whether to acquire a 25.1% blocking minority stake in KNDS from Wegmann Holding as part of a state participation review.
• Owner families Bode and Braunbehrens plan to gradually divest shares ahead of an IPO that could value KNDS at around €20 billion.
• Under the plan under discussion, the French state and Wegmann Holding would each cede 12.5% of shares to new investors in the upcoming IPO.
• Founded in 2015 by merging Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter, KNDS develops Leopard 2 tanks, Boxer wheeled vehicles, self-propelled howitzers and the unmanned ground vehicle THeMIS.
• A final investment decision has not been made, with ministers completing risk assessments on potential state involvement.