KNDS Accelerates Production and IPO Ambitions With New Partners and Bankers

The German defense contractor KNDS has packed several strategic moves into a single week, expanding its manufacturing footprint, securing a major automotive supplier, and appointing a top-tier investment bank to steer its planned dual listing in Frankfurt and Paris. The flurry of activity signals that Europe’s largest potential initial public offering in years is moving from preparation toward execution.

Boxer Output Set to Surge Sixfold

At the Munich-Allach facility, a new series production line for the Boxer 8x8 armored vehicle has gone live. The site is now capable of turning out ten drive modules per month — roughly 120 units annually. That is just one piece of a broader plan to scale total Boxer output sixfold by 2030, as KNDS and its joint venture with Rheinmetall, ARTEC, target production of around 1,000 vehicles annually across five European plants.

The ramp-up is being supported by an unusual partnership with the Dräxlmaier Group, an automotive supplier based in Vilsbiburg, Bavaria. Under a memorandum of understanding signed by KNDS Deutschland CEO Florian Hohenwarter and Dräxlmaier CEO Jan Reblin — with Bavarian premier Markus Söder in attendance — the company will manufacture mission modules for the Boxer at its site in Landau an der Isar. The modular design of the vehicle, which separates the drive and mission components, allows for configurations ranging from medical evacuation to howitzer to infantry fighting vehicle.

The move taps civilian industrial expertise to accelerate military supply chains, a model that analysts suggest could become a template for European defense manufacturing more broadly.

Texelis Acquisition Secures Critical Technology

KNDS has also completed the takeover of Texelis Defense, which has been rebranded as KNDS Mobility. The French subsidiary brings in-house expertise in drive systems for both wheeled and tracked vehicles, reducing the group’s reliance on external suppliers and tightening control over a key part of the supply chain.

The acquisition comes as the order book swells. More than 2,000 Boxer systems are already under contract with Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Australia, and Ukraine. KNDS posted revenue of €3.8 billion in 2024 and employs over 11,000 people, with an order backlog of €23.5 billion.

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Lazard Hired for Dual-Listing Structure

On April 24, reports confirmed that KNDS has retained Lazard as its lead adviser for the IPO. The company, legally headquartered in Amsterdam, is pursuing a dual listing on the Frankfurt and Paris exchanges — a structure designed to maintain the political balance between its French and German shareholders.

The ownership is currently split between the French state and the German Wegmann family. Berlin is negotiating the purchase of a blocking minority stake of roughly 25.1 percent through the state-owned KfW bank, aiming to safeguard national security interests and create a counterweight to existing French government involvement.

IPO Could Raise Up to €5 Billion

The public offering, which could raise as much as €5 billion, is expected to take place as early as this summer, with investor roadshows already underway. Proceeds will be directed toward further capacity expansion and research into land systems.

Before the formal subscription phase can begin, two issues remain: meeting delivery schedules for the Boxer modules and finalizing the shareholder structure with the potential state entry. Both will directly influence the timeline for an IPO that is currently penciled in for 2026.

For prospective investors, the production advances in Munich and the Dräxlmaier partnership serve as early evidence that KNDS can make the leap from bespoke manufacturing to industrial-scale series production — a transition that will be critical to sustaining its growth trajectory.

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