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Czechoslovak Group, one of Europe’s largest ammunition makers, is to launch an initial public offering in Amsterdam in a move that underlines investor appetite for defence groups.
Confirming an earlier FT report, the Prague-based company announced its intention to float on Wednesday, in a deal that would mark one of Europe’s largest listings in recent years.
Family-owned CSG is seeking a primary listing in Amsterdam that could value the group at about €30bn and make it one of Europe’s most valuable defence groups.
CSG said on Wednesday that it would issue €750mn of new shares and a shareholder would also sell additional existing shares in the deal. While the company did not detail how much money it hoped to raise, CSG is expected to float overall about 15 per cent of shares. The IPO will take place “in the coming weeks,” CSG said.
Now run by the founder’s son, Michal Strnad, CSG has become a leading supplier to Ukraine’s armed forces and also acts as an intermediary to procure artillery ammunition to Kyiv from third countries under a Prague-led international initiative.
Earlier this month, incoming Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš dropped the threat that he made during his election campaign to halt the delivery of ammunition to Ukraine, agreeing instead that Prague would continue to co-ordinate this initiative but without using Czech funds.
“[CSG ] stands to benefit from an accelerating trend of global defence spending and its specific expertise across a range of areas,” Strnad said on Wednesday. “We believe an IPO of CSG would elevate the profile of the group within the international investment community, providing additional financial flexibility and diversity of funding sources to support further growth.”
In 2024 CSG acquired Kinetic, one of the biggest US makers of small-arms ammunition, following a takeover battle that also initially sparked a Republican backlash in Washington against ceding ownership to a foreign buyer.
“CSG is well positioned to be a major player in the consolidation of the European defence sector, which is clearly needed to scale up production capacity and reduce costs,” said Damien Mariette, a senior portfolio manager at CPR Asset Management in Paris. “I would expect them to use the proceeds from this IPO for acquisitions.”
A listing of CSG comes as part of a wave of European defence groups preparing for IPOs in order to capitalise on investor enthusiasm amid a significant sector rally.
The Stoxx Europe aerospace and defence index had more than tripled since 2022 through November and has gained more than 11 per cent in 2026.
The Franco-German tank maker KNDS and British metal engineer Doncasters Group are also preparing for IPOs, the FT previously reported.
That comes after investors piled into European defence-related IPOs since 2024, like those of French night vision goggles maker Exosens and German tank gearbox maker Renk.
CSG’s IPO would also mark a further sign of increased activity in Europe’s market for new listings after a prolonged slowdown.
In October, the private equity-based security services company Verisure raised €3.2bn in a Stockholm IPO, with shares jumping 21 per cent on their trading debut.
