KNDS Confirms Summer 2026 Dual Listing With £1bn UK Howitzer Order as Renk Sale Frees €262m

KNDS targets €20bn IPO in Frankfurt/Paris early 2026, lands £1bn UK howitzer deal, and expands capacity as European rearmament boosts revenue 15.9%.

The pace of change at European defence contractor KNDS is quickening on multiple fronts. The company has locked in a dual listing on the Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges for early summer 2026, targeting a market capitalisation of around €20bn, while simultaneously landing a British order for 72 RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers worth roughly £1bn. The twin developments underscore the group’s ambition to cement itself as a core platform for continental land defence.

Deliveries of the RCH 155 — mounted on the 8x8 Boxer wheeled armoured vehicle — are slated to begin in 2028, with a portion of production taking place in the UK to safeguard local industrial jobs. The order aligns with KNDS’s “system-of-systems” strategy of bundling weapons platforms with integrated munitions and sensor packages. It also feeds into a record order book that has swollen to €33.1bn, a figure that has forced management to hunt for extra manufacturing capacity. Chief executive Jean-Paul Alary has held talks with the automotive industry about utilising idle plants, with sites in Ludwigsfelde and Osnabrück under consideration.

The IPO preparations are largely on track, but one structural issue stands out: the role of the German government. Berlin is negotiating the acquisition of a 40% stake in KNDS, matching the size of the French state’s existing holding. This move would allow private German owners to exit. Over the medium term, both governments could reduce their positions to 30% apiece while retaining decisive influence. The dual listing is seen as a key event for the European defence sector, given KNDS’s output of Leopard 2 main battle tanks and Caesar howitzers.

Alongside the listing preparations, the group has been reshaping its portfolio. In a series of accelerated bookbuilds, KNDS sold 5.8 million shares in transmission manufacturer Renk Group, raising approximately €262m. The disposal, which brought the holding down from 15.83% to 10.03% as of 19 May 2026 — disclosed in mandatory filings on 26 and 27 May — leaves KNDS as a significant but no longer majority investor. The freed capital is being redirected into core programmes, including the Leopard 2A8 and the future Main Ground Combat System (MGCS).

The operational backdrop remains robust. Revenue jumped 15.9% to €4.4bn in the 2025 financial year, driven by European rearmament and the need to replenish NATO stockpiles. The Leopard 2A8 programme has gained particular momentum, with combined orders exceeding 300 units from the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Croatia. In November 2025, KNDS inaugurated a new 155mm ammunition production line in Belgium to alleviate the acute shortage of artillery shells across Europe.

Expansion beyond the core product lines is also on the table. KNDS has expressed interest in Iveco Defense Vehicles (IDV), the Italian military vehicle arm that sits outside the ongoing talks between the Agnelli family and India’s Tata Group over the civilian Iveco business. The group is not alone in its pursuit — Leonardo and Rheinmetall are also circling IDV — and it remains unclear who will ultimately secure the asset.

Meanwhile, the workforce has grown 7.3% to roughly 11,000 employees, reflecting the group’s increased scale. Alary positions KNDS as the central integrator for European land defence, and with the listing now firmly on the horizon, that narrative must sell itself to the public markets.