Tank maker KNDS has postponed its long-awaited listing until market conditions improve, following the slump in European defense stocks in recent months.
KNDS said in a statement late Wednesday that the Amsterdam-based company’s shareholders had decided to restart the IPO process “once more favorable market conditions return,” citing “current market volatility in the European defense sector.”
The deal comes after the defense equipment maker struggled to convince investors to support a valuation of more than 12 billion euros ($13.7 billion), a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. Media reports had previously suggested the valuation could reach 25 billion euros, but those expectations have since receded.
KNDS last week confirmed its intention to dual-list in Paris and Frankfurt, making it Europe’s largest IPO this year, without disclosing price or timing. The 20% flotation was widely expected to go ahead this summer after the German and French governments reached an agreement earlier this month on joint ownership of the maker of the Leopard 2 tank and Caesar howitzer.
KNDS declined to comment further on the reason for the IPO postponement.
Michael Field, a market strategist at Morningstar, told CNBC that KNDS could pursue an IPO later this year “if sentiment improves.”
“Fundamentally, their position is not bad, but going public when sentiment is so low is extremely counterproductive,” he said. “Some strong results this season for KNDS or its competitors could help, but investors are likely to want to see a few quarters of good numbers before getting more excited about the sector.”
In January, Czech-based defense company Czechoslovakia Group (CSG) soared 33% from its IPO price on its first day of trading, but later erased that gain. Since then, its value has fallen by about 60%.
german munitions manufacturer line metal The company’s stock has plunged 32% since the beginning of the year, including a nearly 19% drop earlier this week after the German government scrapped plans to buy six large warships that would have contributed billions of dollars to the company’s profits, further deteriorating sentiment around defense stocks despite rising orders.
small peer Hensoldt and Lenk We are in the red for the year. Major defense companies across Europe. BAE Systems, leonardo and Thalesperformed better but still underperformed most. Stocks 600 It has continued to rise significantly since 2021.
PitchBook director Nalin Patel told CNBC last week that while the defense sector is a “huge growth area” with geopolitics at the forefront of governments’ minds, “the broad IPO market remains pretty tough” in Europe.
World leaders head to Turkey next week for a NATO summit, where they are expected to review progress on their countries’ spending targets agreed last year in The Hague.
The KNDS postponement comes as investors question whether Europe’s defense spending boom will live up to expectations.
Governments have pledged hundreds of billions of euros for rearmament and military modernization, but defense stocks have plummeted from their highs as investors grow skeptical that the promised spending will soon translate into profit growth.
– CNBC’s Annette Weisbach contributed to this report
