Handelsblatt obtained a confidential agreement ending negotiations over federal ownership of the tank-making business, DW reported. The deal was expected to be ready for signature in November 2026.
Germany’s government has reached an agreement with defense firm KNDS for a 50% federal stake, business daily Handelsblatt said on 5 November, citing a confidential agreement it obtained. DW’s account of the report described the agreement as a takeover of the German part of the business and said negotiations had finished. The agreement does not establish that the purchase has closed.
KNDS is a Netherlands-headquartered holding company for French weapons maker Nexter and German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, a major tank manufacturer previously owned and controlled by families.
Reuters described the proposed purchase as the German owner families' stake in the Franco-German KNDS group. The families are grouped in Wegmann-Holding, while France holds the remaining 50% of KNDS.
Before the summer, Germany’s parliamentary budget committee authorized up to €7.2 billion (about $8.1 billion) for an earlier plan to buy 40%. That was not the agreed price for the new transaction. A confidential Finance Ministry letter seen by Reuters said the families and government had agreed on a new price formula that would allow a larger purchase at lower cost. The reports do not give an exact purchase price.
The earlier price was to depend on a KNDS stock-market offering, but the proposed listing was postponed in the summer and shelved in the fall as defense-company valuations fell. Reuters said the families had refused to sell at the lower valuations.
Germany’s Economy Ministry said the government wanted to prevent a third party from gaining dominant influence over KNDS Deutschland and the associated loss of key armored-vehicle technology. Germany also wants equal standing with France on central questions, Reuters said. The ministry declined to confirm an agreement on 5 November but emphasized KNDS’s importance to Germany’s security interests; KNDS and the families did not comment.
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Dietmar Bartsch, budget spokesman for the opposition party Die Linke, said the state would effectively buy weapons from itself and argued that this raised legal questions. He also questioned why the owners preferred selling to retaining control.
The agreement was expected to be ready for signature in November 2026, Reuters said, citing Handelsblatt. The Finance Ministry letter said Germany and France had agreed to reduce their respective holdings by ten percentage points each, making it possible to pursue a listing again if market conditions are suitable.
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