Franco-German defence IPO hits private equity snag
KNDS was about to bag a great deal. The Franco-German tank maker had a call option to up its stake in Renk , a $6 billion German-based maker of gearboxes for armoured vehicles, from 7% to 25%. With the call price at 20 euros a share and Renk currently trading at nearly 60 euros, KNDS faced a nice-to-have paper profit of more than 730 million euros. Yet Triton Partners, the buyout firm owning the shares, is having second thoughts about handing them over. The dispute is now for a German court to decide, but it could alter plans by KNDS’s shareholders for an initial public offering this year.
