Headlines
European defence group KNDS plans dual listing in 2026
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
KNDS plans a dual IPO in Paris and Frankfurt in 2026, aiming to boost growth and capital access amid rising European defence spending.
BERLIN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Franco-German defence group KNDS plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in Paris and Frankfurt next year, subject to market conditions, it said on Wednesday.
The long-expected IPO will support KNDS’s long-term growth strategy, broadening its access to capital markets and enabling continued investment in industrial capacity, technology and innovation, it said in a statement.
Last year, KNDS had sales of 3.8 billion euros ($4.45 billion), up from 3.3 billion euros in 2023. Its order intake, which was 11.2 billion euros in 2024, remained strong during 2025, it said.
European defence firms have been boosted by a surge in military spending since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as governments have moved to bolster their own security while supplying Kyiv with weapons and ammunition.
Formed in 2015 with the merger of Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) - the maker of Leopard tanks - and French state-owned weapons maker Nexter, KMW's previous private owners and the French government are joint shareholders in the company.
KNDS CEO Jean-Paul Alary suggested in September that the German government might take a stake in the company.
KNDS said Christian Schulz, former CFO of RENK Group, will join the board of directors from January, bringing with him experience in IPOs.
($1 = 0.8533 euros)
(Writing by Madeline ChambersEditing by Ludwig Burger)
An initial public offering (IPO) is the process through which a private company offers its shares to the public for the first time, allowing it to raise capital from public investors.
Order intake refers to the total value of orders received by a company during a specific period, indicating demand for its products or services.
A dual listing occurs when a company's shares are listed on two different stock exchanges, allowing it to access a broader pool of investors and increase liquidity.
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