At the last minute, the sale to Leonardo of Iveco Defence Vehicles (Idv), the military vehicles division of the group controlled by Exor (the holding company of John Elkann which also owns Stellantis, Cnh Industrial, and the Gedi publishing group).
Iveco Group has announced that all conditions for the closing of the sale of its Defence Business (namely the Idv and Astra brands) to Leonardo have been satisfied. The transaction, which is expected to be finalized in the coming days, constitutes one of the conditions for the completion of the voluntary public tender offer by Tata Motors on all Iveco Group ordinary shares (net of the separation of the Defence Business), as announced on July 30, 2025.
Last July, the defense and aerospace giant had indeed signed the agreement to acquire Iveco Defence, a division of Iveco Group, for a consideration of 1.7 billion euros (enterprise value) which will be financed with available cash. The sale of the defence division to Leonardo satisfied both the Italian government’s requests to keep the strategic activity in the country and the unions.
Also on March 17, the green light came from the EU Antitrust for the acquisition of Iveco Defence Vehicles and Astra Industrial Vehicles.
During the presentation of the update of the 2026-2030 industrial plan, Leonardo’s CEO, Roberto Cingolani, reiterated that the closing of the transaction should take place by the first quarter of 2026.
All the details.
THE GREEN LIGHT FROM BRUSSELS
The EU Commission has approved the acquisition of Iveco Defence Vehicles and Astra Industrial Vehicles by Leonardo. “This approval is a further example of how the Commission quickly approves a transaction that supports the EU defence sector without harming competition in Europe,” the European executive said in a press release on Tuesday.
The transaction mainly concerns armored combat vehicles, military trucks, and military systems. The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given its limited impact on competition in the markets where the companies operate. Furthermore, the Commission examined the impact of the transaction mainly in Italy.
Leonardo does not sell its subsystems to Idv and Astra competitors in Italy, and Leonardo’s competitors are international operators who will therefore maintain alternative marketing channels for their military systems outside Italy. The notified transaction was examined under the normal merger control procedure.
THE TRUCKS TO RHEINMETALL
A few days ago, a reminder came from Leonardo’s partner, Rheinmetall.
The conclusion of the agreement between Leonardo and Iveco “has been delayed and therefore our agreement” for the trucks “is delayed.” This was said on March 11 by Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger regarding the sale of Iveco Defence Vehicles to Leonardo and which, in turn, should lead Rheinmetall to acquire the truck activities of Iveco Defence, reports Radiocor.
“There is a delay” – said Papperger adding that Rheinmetall will be able to act on the truck dossier “once” the Leonardo-Iveco agreement is concluded.
“We have reached a verbal agreement whereby Rheinmetall will acquire the trucks and tactical vehicles and, if Leonardo gives the green light, we will quickly discuss these aspects with the Leonardo team. We are working on our due diligence in this area.” According to Leonardo CEO Cingolani, the Italian group has granted Rheinmetall exclusivity until the first half of 2026 for the purchase of the truck activities.
THE ROMANIAN CONTRACT
Meanwhile, last week Iveco Defence Vehicles signed the contract with the Romanian Ministry of Defence for the supply of the third tranche of trucks (860) of the agreement signed in 2019 which included 2,900 high mobility vehicles. The last tranche foresees deliveries over the next 3 years after the 942 vehicles of the first supply and the second batch of 1,107 vehicles delivered between 2023 and 2026.
The trucks supplied to the Romanian Armed Forces are based on IDV’s High Mobility range, one third of which will be equipped with an armored cabin. Idv currently has, among others, supplies to the Italian Army of 1,453 vehicles, based on the 2024 agreement extended the following year for another 658, and to the Dutch Defence for 785 vehicles under the contract signed last May.
