Climate Activists Target KNDS Steel Plant as Defence Giant Posts Record Orders Ahead of Dual Listing

Climate activists blocked KNDS armor steel foundry for one shift, but the defense firm posted record €13.5bn orders and €4.4bn revenue as it prepares a 2026 IPO.

Climate activists blockaded the entrance to KNDS’s specialty steel foundry in Mülheim an der Ruhr on 29 May, preventing the early shift from starting at a site that produces armor plate for the Leopard 2, Boxer and Puma armoured vehicles. The protest — which the activist group Ende Gelände said involved 200 people, while police counted 120 — was directed against the coal-intensive steelmaking process at the plant, which also supplies a nearby pipe manufacturer. KNDS employs roughly 300 workers at the facility, operated through its subsidiary FWH Stahlguss.

The disruption lasted only a single shift, and the company has not disclosed any quantifiable production loss. Still, the timing is awkward. Just three days earlier, on 26 May, KNDS had reported its strongest financial year ever, and management is deep into preparations for a dual listing in Frankfurt and Paris planned for 2026 — a flotation that will also mark a change in the group’s ownership structure.

Revenue for 2025 rose 15.9% to €4.4 billion, while operating profit jumped to €661 million from €500 million a year earlier. Far more eye-catching was the order intake: €13.5 billion, a record that swelled the backlog to €33.1 billion, up from €23.5 billion at the end of 2024. KNDS attributed the surge to a “structural shift in the geopolitical environment” and rising defence budgets across Europe and NATO. Its Leopard 2 tanks, Caesar howitzers and other systems now serve more than 40 armies worldwide.

The Mülheim protest is a reminder that even with a war chest of orders and strong political support — the German government plans to buy 40% of the shares at the IPO, then reduce its stake to 30% over two to three years, while the French state already has effective control — the defence sector remains a lightning rod for public opposition. The German owner family Wegmann intends to sell its holding, giving the listing a distinct ownership transition.

KNDS took another capital-markets step in the same week as the record results, selling 5.8 million shares in transmission specialist RENK on 19 May for proceeds of about €262 million. The company retains roughly 10% of RENK’s equity, subject to a 180-day lock-up, and says the disposal will optimise its capital structure ahead of the IPO.

The group insists the flotation is running “fully on the original timetable” despite earlier speculation about delays. With a backlog exceeding €33 billion and NATO allies clamouring for new hardware, KNDS will go to market from a position of exceptional strength. But as the blockade in Mülheim showed, operational resilience — from factory gates to supply chains — will matter every bit as much as the numbers for investors waiting for the first trade.