OHB Strengthens Operations as KKR's Share Sale Stalls and Record Orders Pile Up

OHB names new COO to handle record order backlog; KKR's planned €1B block trade pressures shares, with 5.7% free float causing 147% volatility.

OHB has installed a new chief operating officer to handle the operational demands of its swelling order book, even as a looming block trade from private equity heavyweight KKR keeps the shares under pressure. Dr. Luis Alejandro Orellano, a veteran of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Rohde & Schwarz, will take the newly created role on July 1, 2026. The move comes as the space company pursues ambitious growth targets that require tighter integration between complex projects and industrial production.

The appointment was confirmed on the same day as the annual general meeting on June 8, where shareholders also approved a capital authorisation that gives the board room to issue convertible bonds, warrants and participation rights worth up to €1.2 billion through to 2031. That news rattled the market, sending the stock down 7.4% to €387 at the time, before it later slid further to €368 — a decline of roughly 47% from the 52-week high of €688. Still, the year-to-date gain stands at over 200%.

The central overhang, however, remains KKR's position. The US-based investor holds around 29% of OHB and has been attempting to sell down roughly 20 percentage points — a package valued at more than €1 billion. A planned placement on June 12 was pulled at the last minute after Elon Musk's SpaceX announced its own initial public offering, soaking up both bank capacity and investor appetite. The syndicate of banks has since been expanded to seven, adding Berenberg and Commerzbank to Jefferies, UniCredit, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. The deadline for the placement runs until June 30, 2026.

That deadline matters because of the stock's extreme sensitivity to order flow. With a free float of just 1.09 million shares out of 19.2 million in issue — a mere 5.7% — any significant trade moves the price violently. The annualised 30-day volatility stands at around 147%, making daily swings of 9% or 8% routine. If KKR succeeds, the free float would jump to roughly 26%, but the immediate selling pressure would remain.

The operational picture, meanwhile, could hardly be stronger. OHB's order backlog hit a record €3.35 billion at the end of March, up 45% year-on-year. First-quarter total output rose 15% to €279.3 million, while adjusted EBIT climbed 63% to €16.8 million and adjusted EBITDA increased 37% to €27.3 million. The company is targeting total output of €1.4 billion for this year, rising to €1.7 billion in 2027 and over €2.0 billion in 2028, with an 11% EBITDA margin targeted across the horizon.

To help steer that growth, Orellano brings more than 17 years of experience from DaimlerChrysler, Bombardier and thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, where he oversaw complex submarine and frigate programmes as COO. Most recently he served as executive vice president for technology systems at Rohde & Schwarz. The board has also added Dr. Theodor Weimer as a new member, replacing Claire Wellby for a three-year term.

On the ILA Berlin air show floor, which runs until June 14, OHB is showcasing new mission contracts. The company is also preparing for its subsidiary Rocket Factory Augsburg's maiden flight of the RFA ONE rocket, scheduled from July 1, carrying seven satellites. Management has cautioned that first flights of new launch systems historically succeed less than 30% of the time, and the subsidiary is only equity-accounted, so any failure would not directly impact group earnings.

A dividend of €0.60 per share goes ex-dividend on June 25 and will be paid on June 29. Whether the KKR placement can be completed before that date — and at what price — will determine the stock's direction over the final weeks of June. After that, the overhang lifts, and the market can refocus on an operational story that, by any measure, is firing on all cylinders.