BERLIN — Germany’s budget committee is due to decide this week on a planned acquisition of a 40-percent stake in Franco-German tank maker KNDS, according to a report by Germany’s defense ministry, as one of Europe’s biggest defense listings takes shape.
The formal decision, scheduled for June 24, is necessary to ensure that KNDS can go public in July as is currently planned, the document, dated June 19, said, adding the so-called intention to float for KNDS was planned in June.
Germany’s stake purchase will value KNDS at 15 billion to 18 billion euros ($17.2 billion to $20.6 billion), a source told Reuters on Sunday, in a deal aimed at creating a counterweight to France, which owns half of the company already.
Germany is also targeting a so-called “golden share” in KNDS’s German unit, the document said, which would come with extended influence over personnel and strategic matters at the country level and ensure a balance of power between Paris and Berlin.
The planned listing of KNDS marks one of the continent’s biggest and most prestigious defense listings and comes after a recent setback for German-Franco relations following the collapse of the joint FCAS new-generation fighter jet.
Berlin will acquire its stake from the German family owners that currently hold half of KNDS, which was created via the merger of the former Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and France’s Nexter.
