Leonardo’s buy of Iveco Defence Vehicles secures Italian armor stable

ROME — Italian defense giant Leonardo has agreed to buy Italy’s Iveco Defence Vehicles for €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion), ending months of speculation about the future of the up-for-sale military vehicle maker.

The deal, which Leonardo will finance with available cash resources, marks another step into land systems for Leonardo after its tie-up last year to build tanks and fighting vehicles with Germany’s Rheinmetall.

It also keeps IDV Italian after domestic politicians expressed concerns over a long list of foreign suitors keen on buying the firm.

“This transaction reinforces Leonardo’s position as a reference player in the European land defense market, a segment expected to experience sustained growth in the coming years”, said Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani, after the deal was announced.

Leonardo said the deal would facilitate the greater integration of its electronics and turrets on IDV vehicles, which count the Italian army and Brazilian military as major customers.

After the deal was signed, Cingolani told analysts that Leonardo had initially planned to buy IDV jointly with Rheinmetall, but then decided to go it alone. It was, he said, a “simpler and more convenient” solution.

Rheinmetall said it was however in exclusive talks with Leonardo to split off and buy IDV’s military trucks operation.

With 2,000 staff, IDV saw revenue rise 15% last year to €1.13 billion as the Ukraine war has fueled demand for armored vehicles.

It was sold by the Exor Group, which is the largest shareholder in car maker Stellantis and controlled by the Italian Agnelli family.

Others bidders for IDV reportedly included Spains Indra and Franco-German consortium KNDS.

Leonardo and Rheinmetall are currently planning to build 1,050 new infantry fighting vehicles for the Italian army based on the Rheinmetall Lynx, and 132 tanks based on Rheinmetall’s under-development Panther KF51.

IDV already has a piece of the Italian vehicle order. In December it said it had signed a deal with Leonardo to take 12-15% of the development and production work on the deal, which has been valued at €23 billion.

Leonardo and IDV already have a joint venture in place, CIO, which builds VBM wheeled fighting vehicles and wheeled Centauro tanks for the Italian army.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利国防巨头莱昂纳多公司已同意以 17 亿欧元（19 亿美元）的价格收购意大利依维柯防务车辆公司，结束了数月来关于这家待售军用车辆制造商未来的猜测。

这项交易由莱昂纳多公司用现有现金资源进行融资，标志着继去年与德国莱茵金属公司合作制造坦克和战车之后，莱昂纳多公司在陆地系统领域又迈出了重要一步。

此外，由于国内政界人士对众多外国收购者有意收购IDV公司表示担忧，IDV仍保持意大利本土化运营。

“此次交易巩固了莱昂纳多在欧洲陆地防御市场作为标杆企业的地位，预计该领域在未来几年将持续增长，”莱昂纳多首席执行官罗伯托·辛戈拉尼在交易宣布后表示。

莱昂纳多公司表示，该交易将有助于其电子设备和炮塔更好地集成到IDV车辆上，意大利军队和巴西军队是IDV车辆的主要客户。

交易完成后，辛戈拉尼告诉分析师，莱昂纳多最初计划与莱茵金属公司联合收购IDV，但后来决定单独收购。他表示，这是一个“更简单、更便捷”的解决方案。

莱茵金属公司表示，该公司正在与莱昂纳多公司进行独家谈判，计划剥离并收购IDV的军用卡车业务。

IDV 拥有 2000 名员工，去年收入增长 15%，达到 11.3 亿欧元，这得益于乌克兰战争刺激了对装甲车辆的需求。

它由 Exor 集团出售，该集团是汽车制造商 Stellantis 的最大股东，由意大利阿涅利家族控制。

据报道，IDV 的其他竞标者包括西班牙的 Indra 和法德财团 KNDS。

莱昂纳多和莱茵金属目前计划为意大利陆军建造 1,050 辆基于莱茵金属“山猫”的新型步兵战车，以及 132 辆基于莱茵金属正在研发的“黑豹”KF51 的坦克。

IDV已获得部分意大利汽车订单。去年12月，该公司表示已与莱昂纳多签署协议，将承担该订单12%至15%的研发和生产工作，该订单价值230亿欧元。

莱昂纳多和IDV已经成立了一家合资企业CIO，为意大利军队生产VBM轮式战车和Centauro轮式坦克。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。