The Berlin government is ready to enter Knds, the defense company owned half by the French state and half by the Bode entrepreneurial dynasty.
The families holding half of the Franco-German tank manufacturer have agreed to sell 40% of the shares to the German government.
“With the establishment of this Franco-German framework, the two states are taking a decisive step to strengthen their shared sovereignty in land defense,” Paris and Berlin said in a joint press release. “Its founding principles are a long-term commitment by the shareholders, equal governance rights, and appropriate oversight of security issues,” they added.
The Budget Committee of the German Parliament (Bundestag) will vote on Wednesday, June 24, on the acquisition of a stake in the Franco-German defense company, reports Der Spiegel today, cited by Agenzia Nova.
Furthermore, the agreement paves the way for the company’s stock market listing in Frankfurt and Paris. The operation would value Knds between 15 and 18 billion euros and would allow France and Germany to hold equivalent state stakes in the European producer of land systems and tanks.
As a Franco-German company, KNDS is a flagship of bilateral industrial cooperation, recently challenged by the failure of the joint fighter aircraft development Fcas, notes Bloomberg. After the disastrous failure of Fcas, the two countries also demonstrate that they can still cooperate in the defense sector, comments the French daily La Tribune.
All the details.
THE AGREEMENT FOR THE GERMAN STATE PARTICIPATION IN KNDS
The families controlling 50% of Knds’ capital have agreed to sell a 40% stake to the German federal government.
The operation responds to the objective pursued by the executive led by Friedrich Merz to align its presence in the group’s capital with the stake held by the French state. To achieve this result, Berlin would acquire part of the shares held by Wegmann & Co., a holding controlled by the shareholder families.
WHAT IS KNDS
Founded about ten years ago from the merger between the German tank manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (Kmw) and the French competitor Nexter, Knds supplies Leopard 2 tanks to the German armed forces and Caesar howitzers to the French army.
The company, which is a key supplier for Ukraine, is equally owned by the German Bode-Wegmann family and the Paris government. In 2025, the Franco-German defense company recorded a revenue growth of 16%, reaching 4.4 billion euros. In the same period, the order backlog also increased, rising to 33.1 billion euros at the end of the year, compared to 23.5 billion recorded at the end of 2024.
Knds welcomed the agreement between the governments. The agreement will preserve “the autonomy that the group’s management needs to successfully run the company,” the company said in a statement.
FRANCE AND GERMANY TOWARDS EQUAL GOVERNANCE IN KNDS
The resulting structure would allow the company to operate as a Franco-German joint participation company.
Thus, Paris and Berlin will become, in the long term, equal shareholders (50-50), subject to budget approval by the German Parliament. “With the creation of this Franco-German framework, the two states are taking a decisive step to strengthen their shared sovereignty in land defense,” France and Germany said in the press release. This agreement confirms “the highly strategic nature of this defense sector company, serving both armed forces and both states,” explained a source from the Élysée Palace. Furthermore, governance rights will be balanced.
BUDGET COMMITTEE OF THE BUNDESTAG EXPECTED TO DECIDE ON WEDNESDAY
According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, which cites a document from the Ministry of Defense, the Bundestag Budget Committee will vote on a comprehensive package of contracts intended to regulate the future governance structure, including the rights of Knds owners. According to the document, the government intends to acquire a 40% stake “to safeguard German security interests” and both Berlin and Paris have agreed on broad intervention rights.
THE PATH TO THE IPO CLEARED
Finally, “the agreement paves the way for a possible Knds IPO in the near future,” the press release reads. This IPO should allow the group to finance its future developments and support the strong growth in European demand, particularly from the French and German armed forces.
A VALUATION BETWEEN 15 AND 18 BILLION
According to one of the sources cited by Bloomberg, the operation would assign Knds a valuation between 15 and 18 billion euros. The final value will depend on the stock’s performance in the first weeks following the start of trading.
Some expect an official announcement as early as Tuesday or within this week, reports Les Echos. In any case, by summer.
