OHB's €1 Billion KKR Exit Stalls as SpaceX IPO Captures Market Attention

A single day wiped nearly 16% off OHB SE's share price on 27 May, yet the company issued no news. The culprit was not a profit warning or a lost contract but a structural vulnerability: a free float so thin that just 1,019 shares traded on the Stuttgart exchange sent the stock swinging between €421.50 and €478.50 — a range of almost €57. With only 5.68% of its 19.15 million shares freely available, the German space group has become a hostage to liquidity.

That fragility lies at the heart of a complex drama unfolding this June. Private equity firm KKR, which holds around 29% of OHB, intends to sell roughly 20 percentage points of that stake in a block trade worth more than €1 billion. The deal would lift the free float to about 26% and cut KKR's holding to a single-digit position, while the founding Fuchs family keeps control with 65% of voting rights. Seven banks have been lined up to execute the placement: Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Berenberg, Commerzbank, Jefferies and UniCredit. The target closing date is 30 June 2026.

But the timing has collided with one of the year's most anticipated equity events: SpaceX's initial public offering on 12 June. An IPO of that magnitude monopolises investor attention, capital and banking resources, forcing smaller transactions onto the sidelines. OHB has therefore suspended the placement, leaving the final outcome tied to how SpaceX's debut performs. A strong first day could reignite appetite for space-sector names; a disappointing start might delay the deal past the June deadline.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying OHB SE?

Before the market can focus on the block trade, OHB's annual general meeting on 8 June demands attention. Shareholders will vote on a dividend of €0.60 per share, totalling roughly €11.5 million. More consequential is a request for authority to issue convertible bonds, warrants or profit-sharing rights with a total face value of up to €1.2 billion, flanked by a conditional capital increase of 20% of current share capital. The authorisation would run until 2031. In addition, the AGM will consider a stock option programme covering up to 576,447 subscription rights — capped at 3.0% of basic capital — also valid through June 2031. Approval would hand OHB substantial financial firepower for its next growth phase, while any significant opposition would signal that governance concerns have penetrated the tight shareholder circle.

Operationally, the Bremer company has rarely looked stronger. First-quarter 2026 total output rose 15% to €279.3 million, adjusted EBITDA climbed 37% to €27.3 million, and net profit tripled to €9.9 million from €3.7 million a year earlier. The order backlog hit an all-time high of €3.35 billion at the end of March, up 45% year-on-year, driven by Space Systems with €2.68 billion. Management's medium-term roadmap targets total output of €1.4 billion in 2026, €1.7 billion in 2027 and more than €2.0 billion in 2028, with the EBITDA margin rising from 11% to above 12% by the end of the planning period.

Immediately after the AGM, OHB will present new mission contracts at the ILA Berlin air show from 10 to 14 June. Meanwhile, its subsidiary Rocket Factory Augsburg has applied for a launch window starting 1 July for the first test flight of the RFA ONE rocket at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland. Both the first and second stages have already been delivered. The team spent 18 months reworking the helix engine, tank pressurisation systems and ground procedures following a hot-fire test incident. OHB has cautioned that success rates for maiden flights of new launch vehicles historically fall below 30%.

Whether KKR can complete its exit this month ultimately hinges on the SpaceX debut. A strong listing could unlock demand for space exposure and prompt banks to proceed. A weak start may push the placement into July — beyond the agreed deadline — leaving OHB's stock once again at the mercy of its microscopic free float.

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