Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 11, 2026
3 min readLast updated: April 11, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleGermany’s IG Metall deputy leader Juergen Kerner urges Berlin to secure more than a 25% stake in KNDS’s planned €20 billion IPO to ensure parity with France and protect domestic control over technology and jobs.
By Alexander Hübner and Sabine Siebold
MUNICH/BERLIN, April 11 (Reuters) - Germany must ensure it matches France's holding in a planned 20 billion euro ($23 billion) listing nL8N40722D of Leopard tank maker KNDS, a high-level German labour leader said, adding that this will require Berlin taking more than a blocking minority of 25%.
Juergen Kerner, deputy head of Germany's most powerful union IG Metall, told Reuters that ownership parity was key "to safeguard German technology and jobs" and that Berlin "must not miss the right moment to do so".
Kerner, one of Germany's most senior worker representatives, holds supervisory board seats at numerous German industrial firms including Siemens Energy, Thyssenkrupp, Siemens and Traton.
KNDS is currently owned through a 50-50 split between the French government and the family owners of Germany's former Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, or KMW, who plan to sell their entire stake in an IPO which sources say is planned for June or July.
Sources told Reuters in February that Berlin is preparing nL6N3ZD0M8 the purchase of at least 25.1% as a result, a level Kerner said will not be enough to ensure parity with France's holding.
"Even if France was prepared to reduce its stake to, for example, less than 40%, a blocking minority of 25% would not be sufficient. Otherwise, Germany runs the risk of losing control of a key company in the course of the IPO," Kerner said.
The planned IPO could become one of the biggest in Europe this year and would establish KNDS as one of the region's 10 biggest defence companies in a sector that has drawn investor interest as the continent seeks to increase military spending.
The German government said it was currently reviewing the conditions for an investment in KNDS, including the size of any stake and the overall ownership structure, declining to comment further.
Spokespeople for KNDS and its German family owners declined to comment.
($1 = 0.8531 euros)
(Reporting by Alexander Huebner and Sabine Siebold; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and Andreas Rinke; Editing by Alexander Smith and Jane Merriman)
KNDS, the maker of Leopard tanks, plans a €20 billion IPO, potentially one of Europe's biggest this year.
German-French parity is seen as vital to safeguard German technology and jobs as KNDS transitions ownership.
Germany is considering purchasing at least 25.1% of KNDS, but union leaders say this may not be enough for parity.
KNDS is jointly owned by the French government and the family owners of KMW, each holding 50%.
Sources indicate the KNDS IPO may take place in June or July.
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