PARIS — French-German tank builder KNDS plans to list its shares on the Paris and Frankfurt stock markets in an operation that will see existing shareholders selling about 20% of the company to institutional investors and Germany buying a 40% share.
The two holding companies that currently control KNDS, French state-owned Giat Industries and German family-owned Wegmann & Co, will together sell about 20% of the company, KNDS said in a statement on Wednesday. The Federal Republic of Germany agreed with Wegmann to buy 40% of the maker of armored vehicles, while France will hang on to the remainder of its stake through Giat.
France and Germany reached agreement on Monday on becoming equal shareholders in KNDS, paving the way for the company to forge ahead with plans for a stock-market listing announced in December. The operation also allows the group of German heirs that collectively own half of the company to cash out, after a surge in defense stocks following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“The planned IPO is a natural next step for KNDS,” CEO Jean-Paul Alary said in a statement. “It will increase our strategic agility and support continued investment in capacity, innovation and next-generation technologies.”
As share prices for listed defense companies have surged in recent years amid rising defense investment, Europe has seen a string of initial public offerings, including German tank-transmission maker Renk and French night-vision maker Exosens in 2024, German shipbuilder TKMS in 2025 and arms maker Czechoslovak Group, or CSG, in January this year.
The STOXX Europe Targeted Defence Index, which is weighted for the portion of sales its constituent companies get from defense, has climbed sixfold in the past five years.
KNDS says it targets revenue growth of around 30% in 2026, after posting sales of €4.4 billion (US$ 5 billion) and operating profit of €661 million in 2025. The company reported a record order backlog of €33.1 billion at the end of December.
The Federal Republic of Germany plans to buy its stake in KNDS via an acquisition by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, with the transaction to be finalized ahead of the stock-market listing, according to the company. The German investment remains subject to a number of conditions, including a special federal mandate following approval by the parliamentary Budget Committee, KNDS said.
“Germany’s intention to invest alongside the French State is a strong signal of confidence in KNDS and its future,” KNDS Chairman Tom Enders said in the statement.
The existing shareholders will sell about 20% of KNDS to institutional investors through private placements, with no public offering planned. The listing won’t include the sale of any new shares, Alary told Defense News at the Eurosatory defense show outside Paris last week.
Giat and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau will remain long-term shareholders, with a 10-year lockup period expected to apply to both owners, according to KNDS. During that period, a sale of KNDS shares that would result in the stake of either the French or German investment vehicles falling below 30% would require prior approval of the other party.
The transaction is also expected to introduce a loyalty share plan, where shares that are held by registered owners for two years are granted double voting rights.
KNDS is a strategic asset for both France and Germany as the supplier of both countries’ main battle tanks and self-propelled artillery, and with a lead role in development of the future Main Ground Combat System designed to replace France’s Leclerc tanks and Germany’s Leopard.
The company at Eurosatory showed a proposed a main battle tank with a French turret and gun mounted on a German Leopard 2 chassis as an intermediate solution to replace the Leclerc, which is expected to reach the end of its service life before a next-generation tank arrives.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.