France and Germany have finalized an agreement to hold equal 40% stakes in KNDS, the Franco-German land armaments manufacturer, removing the primary obstacle to the company’s planned stock market listing.
The deal paves the way for a dual listing on the Euronext Paris and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges, with the remaining 20% of shares to be sold to private investors.
The agreement, reached on Monday, June 22, ends months of negotiations over the ownership structure of the conglomerate formed by the merger of France’s Nexter and Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
By securing equal footing, Paris and Berlin aim to ensure that strategic decisions regarding the production of key systems such as the Caesar howitzer and Leopard 2 tank are made as equals, rather than through majority control by one nation.
This development marks a significant step in the European defense industrial strategy, moving KNDS from a state-controlled entity toward a publicly traded company.
The dual listing is expected to provide the capital and market discipline necessary to support the company’s growth amid rising defense spending across Europe.