BERLIN — The German government is buying a minority stake in defense supplier Hensoldt, a company that derives from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus’ former defense and security electronics division.
The state-owned KfW development bank said Monday that it was buying 25.1 percent of the shares in Hensoldt on behalf of the federal government in Berlin. That gives the government a blocking minority under German law.
KfW didn’t detail the value of the purchase.
Germany’s Cabinet decided in December to buy the stake to prevent “unfriendly powers” from acquiring materiel such as sensors and encryption technology for military use, news agency dpa reported.
Among other things, Hensoldt supplies components for Eurofighter planes.
The Taufkirchen-based firm has about 5,600 employees, and it reported revenue of €1.2 billion (U.S. $1.4 billion) last year. It also ranked 67th place in last year’s list of the top 100 defense companies around the world by Defense News.
Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.
