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The Federal Republic is about to make its first major entry into a German arms company.
The takeover of 25.1 percent of the armaments electronics group Hensoldt, which has recently gone public, is planned for almost half a billion euros by the end of the year.
As it is said in industry circles, considerations about national security are behind the step.
With a so-called blocking minority, Berlin could slow down decisions or the takeover of power in the company by unwelcome foreign shareholders.
Hensoldt positions itself as a sensor and radar specialist and supplies, for example, a new high-tech radar for the Eurofighter
Source: Getty Images
In contrast to France with several state or partially nationalized arms companies, such as Hensoldt's competitor Thales, Berlin has so far been relatively little involved in the military sector.
Only an eleven percent stake in Airbus with its armaments division is to be mentioned here.
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Berlin had increased this stake eight years ago in order to keep at least as large a stake as France.
Other European governments are also securing access to their armaments companies, such as Italy with a 30 percent stake in Leonardo.
Berlin was able to lower the price significantly
When Hensoldt joined, Berlin was under time pressure.
The main owner is the US financial investor KKR.
In 2016, he took over today's Hensoldt activities from Airbus for 1.1 billion euros and recently floated them on the stock exchange.
Hensoldt positions itself as a sensor and radar specialist and supplies, for example, a new high-tech radar for the Eurofighter, developed a special radar (passive radar) for the detection of stealth aircraft and is to provide key technologies for the German-French-Spanish fighter jet of the future in so-called Future Combat Air Deliver system project (FCAS).
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KKR had given the federal government the option to buy a 25.1 percent stake for up to 600 million euros by the end of the year.
According to the Reuters news agency from parliamentary circles, the federal government is now planning to spend 464 million euros on the key share.
So Berlin was able to lower the price a bit.
Definitive confirmation was not available from Hensoldt, KKR or the Federal Ministry of Economics.
"We basically do not comment on speculation," was the almost identical answer on request.
The 464 million euros are below the maximum price.
But the Hensoldt share was not a price rocket when it went public at twelve euros at the lower end of the offer price range.
In arithmetical terms, the Berlin purchase price would now be around EUR 17.60 per share.
That would still be well above the current rate.
Spurred on by the news, the price climbed to over 14 euros for the first time on Monday.
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Selling to the federal government is therefore still good business for KKR.
KKR can thus reduce its stake in Hensoldt from 63 to around 38 percent.
The financial investor is also a co-partner of the Axel Springer Group, to which WELT also belongs.
Chinese investor showed interest
The federal government's planned entry into the industry is being closely followed.
Berlin has declared sensor technology and electronic warfare to be the key technology for strengthening the security and defense industry.
As it is said by industry experts, a significant entry of Chinese investors into Hensoldt could also have been prevented by the Foreign Trade Act.
With the entry now planned, national interests of Berlin would also be secured within Europe or with a view to the USA.
It is an open secret that behind the scenes there is a tug-of-war about decision-making power, patents and financing behind the two major Franco-German armaments projects FCAS (fighter jet / armaments networking) and MGCS (new battle tank with escort vehicles).
Paris is also advancing its security interests through industrial policy.
It was recently emphasized at an Airbus event that the civil economy is benefiting from the development of new high-tech armaments technology, for example in digitization.