The German government said Monday it plans to acquire a 40% stake in KNDS, the Amsterdam-based defense contractor whose products include the Leopard and Leclerc battle tanks, as Berlin moves to deepen European defense industrial cooperation alongside France.
The French state already holds a 50% stake in KNDS, which was created in 2015 through the merger of Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter. The remaining half of the company is owned by the German family behind Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. The German government’s planned purchase would make it a co-owner of the company alongside Paris.
The announcement comes as European countries accelerate efforts to boost military spending and production capacity, driven by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and growing unease about the reliability of the United States as a security partner under the Trump administration. As MSI previously reported, the U.S. announced plans in May to withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany over the next 6 to 12 months, a move that has spurred European allies to seek greater self-sufficiency in defense.