Tank maker KNDS delays stock listing, citing defense-market volatility

PARIS — French-German tank maker KNDS delayed plans for a stock-market listing , citing market volatility for the European defense sector, with the company’s shareholders planning to resume the process for an initial public offering “upon the return of more favorable market conditions.”

The maker of Germany’s Leopard tank and France’s Caesar self-propelled howitzer said it has “completed substantially” all the required preparations for its proposed stock listing in Paris and Frankfurt, and engaged extensively with investors, in a statement published Wednesday night.

The announcement comes just a week after KNDS said it was going ahead with plans for its stock-market listing, and after shares in its closest listed European peers Rheinmetall and Czechoslovak Group took a tumble last week. Shares in both companies have since recovered from last week’s drop, though over the past month Rheinmetall has slipped 13% and CSG is down 17%.

“KNDS and its shareholders will continue to monitor the capital markets conditions closely and stand ready to resume the IPO process as soon as market conditions allow,” the company said.

The Financial Times reported that KNDS has been struggling to convince investors to back an IPO valuation for the company of more than €12 billion (US$13.7 billion).

The most recent European defense company stock market listing was CSG, which listed in Amsterdam in January in what was then the biggest defense IPO ever. The Czech company’s shares have fallen about 44% from their IPO price, cutting its market valuation by more than €11 billion to €13.8 billion.

As part of the listing plan, French state-owned Giat Industries and German family-owned Wegmann & Co will together sell about 20% of KNDS to institutional investors through private placements, with the Federal Republic of Germany buying Wegmann’s remaining 40% stake via Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau. France will continue to own a 40% stake in the company through Giat.

KNDS said discussions with investors confirmed that they share the company’s “view of its differentiated industry positioning and their belief in KNDS’s long-term strategy.”

The company and its shareholders remain “fully aligned” on the priorities of delivering for customers, expanding the firm’s European presence and speeding up development of “innovative complete mission solutions” to strengthen European defense, KNDS said.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——法国-德国坦克制造商KNDS推迟了上市计划，理由是欧洲国防市场的波动性。该公司股东计划“在市场条件恢复到更有利的水平后”恢复首次公开募股的进程。

德国豹式坦克和法国凯撒自行榴弹炮的制造商在周三晚间发表的一份声明中表示，该公司已“基本完成”在巴黎和法兰克福上市所需的所有准备工作，并与投资者进行了广泛的接触。

就在KNDS宣布将推进其股票市场上市计划一周后，该公司发布了这一消息。此前，其在欧洲的两家上市竞争对手莱茵金属和捷克斯洛伐克集团的股价上周均出现暴跌。尽管两家公司的股价此后均已从上周的跌幅中回升，但过去一个月，莱茵金属的股价下跌了13%，捷克斯洛伐克集团的股价下跌了17%。

“KNDS及其股东将继续密切关注资本市场状况，并随时准备在市场条件允许的情况下恢复IPO进程，”该公司表示。

《金融时报》报道称，KNDS 一直努力说服投资者支持该公司超过 120 亿欧元（137 亿美元）的 IPO 估值。

最近一家上市的欧洲国防公司是捷克国防集团（CSG），该公司于今年1月在阿姆斯特丹上市，当时创下了国防领域IPO规模之最。这家捷克公司的股价已较IPO发行价下跌约44%，市值缩水超过110亿欧元，至138亿欧元。

作为上市计划的一部分，法国国有企业吉亚特工业公司（Giat Industries）和德国家族企业韦格曼公司（Wegmann & Co）将通过私募方式共同向机构投资者出售KNDS约20%的股份，而德意志联邦共和国将通过德国复兴信贷银行（Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau）收购韦格曼公司剩余的40%股份。法国将继续通过吉亚特工业公司持有该公司40%的股份。

KNDS表示，与投资者的讨论证实，他们认同公司“差异化的行业定位，并相信KNDS的长期战略”。

KNDS表示，公司及其股东在为客户交付产品、扩大公司在欧洲的业务以及加快开发“创新型完整任务解决方案”以加强欧洲国防等优先事项上仍然“完全一致”。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。