KNDS’s €5bn IPO Stalls on Premium Row While Malaysian Howitzer Order Bolsters Backlog
19.06.2026 - 13:52:14 | boerse-global.de
Europe’s largest armoured vehicle maker finds itself caught between a surge in demand and a fractious ownership dispute. KNDS finalised a deal to supply Malaysia with 18 CAESAR self-propelled howitzers on 16 June at the Eurosatory exhibition in Paris — a contract that marks Kuala Lumpur’s first-ever acquisition of such systems — yet the company’s long-awaited dual listing in Frankfurt and Paris is stuck, with Berlin and the founding families locked in a bitter argument over the price of the government’s entry.
The German state wants to buy a 40% stake to match the holding of the French co-owner. But the Bode and Braunbehrens families, who control the remaining equity, are demanding a hefty premium on that block, arguing that the strategic value of securing influence in a major defence contractor justifies the extra cost. Finance officials and budget politicians in the Bundestag are pushing back hard: they insist on paying only the market price determined by the bookbuilding process, and they see little scope for justifying a taxpayer-funded bonus in the current fiscal climate.
Malaysia’s order provides a welcome distraction from the impasse. The contract includes not just the 18 howitzers — fitted with a 155-mm L/52 gun — but also a technology-transfer licence and local assembly in partnership with Advanced Defense System (ADS Sdn Bhd). The systems will equip a newly raised regiment. It took years to finalise: a 2019 plan to buy second-hand US M-109s collapsed under a change of government, and a 2024 attempt to acquire Slovakia’s EVA M2 also fell through. With this deal, Malaysia becomes the 15th buyer of the CAESAR globally and the third in Southeast Asia, after Thailand and Indonesia. Around 800 CAESAR units have now been ordered or delivered.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying KNDS?
At the same Eurosatory event, KNDS unveiled a prototype of a universal drone-launch container housed inside a standard 20-foot ISO box. The system packs a dual function: attack and air defence. Inside sit Helsing HX-2 loitering munitions for striking ground targets and Tytan TI-1 METIS interceptor drones for taking down hostile unmanned aircraft, all controlled by Helsing’s Altra software with AI-powered thermal detection. The container is self-contained — power, cooling, and networking are built in — and the launch platform can be physically separated from the operator, making it harder for an adversary to pinpoint the firing position.
The company’s preparations for the IPO are otherwise on track. A months-long internal investigation into a 2013 contract with Qatar — covering howitzers and Leopard 2 tanks — found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by employees, allowing KNDS to finalise its audited 2025 accounts and publish the official prospectus. The group posted revenue of €4.4 billion last year, while its order backlog stood at €33.1 billion at year-end. It employs roughly 11,000 staff and positions itself as Europe’s only pure-play land systems house.
The listing is expected to raise around €5 billion, with roughly a quarter of the shares placed in free float, and bankers value the group at up to €20 billion. But the government’s attempt to secure a blocking minority is running into additional political demands. German parliamentarians are insisting on a “German eyes only” safeguard to protect sensitive military technology, alongside guarantees for domestic factory locations and far-reaching veto rights on the supervisory board. Those conditions further complicate negotiations with the Bode and Braunbehrens families.
Time is running short. If Berlin and the private owners cannot agree on the premium by the end of June, the current timeline slips, and the IPO would inevitably be pushed into the second half of the year. Meanwhile, KNDS’s operational momentum continues to build — the Malaysian contract alone signals that the pipeline remains robust, even as the ownership puzzle remains unresolved.
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