Berlin. The federal government and the families who own the tank manufacturer KNDS have agreed that the company will be completely taken over by the state. “The federal government has […] agreed with Wegmann on […] the acquisition of 50 percent,” says a government document classified as “classified” that is available to the Handelsblatt.
KNDS builds the Leopard 2 main battle tank and the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. So far, the German Braunbehrens and Bode families have held 50 percent of the company through the Wegmann Holding, with the French state holding the other 50 percent. The families have been planning to sell their shares for some time.
The planned IPO was initially postponed in early summer and was canceled again in September. In order to protect Germany's security interests, the federal government has since planned to take over the full 50 percent from the families. The Handelsblatt first reported on this in August. At that time, the purchase price in particular was still open.
Now there is an agreement, the document shows. In it, the defense and economic ministries list the status of negotiations, and the finance ministry has now presented the report to the budget committee. “Wegmann aims to sign the purchase agreement (signing) in November 2026,” it says. The transaction is scheduled to be completed in December 2026.
The original plan was that the families and France would each put ten percent of their shares on the stock exchange, the German state would take over the remaining 40 percent of the families and France would still hold 40 percent of KNDS. But nothing came of this because the families expected the proceeds from the IPO to be too low due to the difficult market environment.
The plan then emerged for the federal government to take over the entire 50 percent of the families. The purchase price now negotiated is based “on the equity value for KNDS determined in the current valuation environment,” it says in the document.
In addition, the federal government will pay a surcharge for comprehensive control rights as well as a prorated annual surplus for 2026 because the federal government will receive the dividend for the entire year, but the company will still belong to the Wegmann Holding almost until the end of the year.
The document does not reveal exactly how much money from the state treasury goes into the acquisition of KNDS, as it can still change before the final signature. However, it says: “All in all, the negotiated purchase price mechanism means that the federal government will pay a significantly lower sum for 50 percent of the shares than was approved in June for just 40 percent of the shares.” At that time, 7.2 billion euros were earmarked for the 40 percent.
This means that the biggest hurdle to making KNDS a state-owned company has been overcome. However, the deal is only finalized once the contracts have been signed. Everything is obviously prepared for this now. A spokesman for Wegmann Holding did not want to comment on the information when asked.
The federal government justifies the need for state entry with security reasons. The Bundeswehr is KNDS's largest customer. Berlin had repeatedly emphasized that it was important to maintain parity with France.
The holding company also said it was willing to consider a transaction “with other foreign investors”. The Czech defense company Czechoslovak Group (CSG) and the US private equity investor Warburg Pincus are explicitly mentioned. “Such a scenario would significantly endanger German security interests in the key technology of protected and armored vehicles.”
