Czech defense company CSG will likely hold massive IPO in Amsterdam on Friday

Czechoslovak Group (CSG), a Czech defense firm, is set to debut on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Friday. Bloomberg reports that this is the largest-ever IPO for a defense company, which could put CSG's market value at 25 billion euros. In the first nine months of last year, the company generated 4.5 billion euros in revenue.

Shares will be priced at 25 euros each for the listing. The listing involves a direct placement of shares to institutional investors, such as pension funds and other major investment groups, both from the Netherlands and abroad.

The share sale consists of 750 million euros of new shares and 2.55 billion euros of existing shares. If all options are exercised, the total value could rise to 3.8 billion euros.

CSG, headquartered in Prague, published its prospectus on Tuesday. CSG calls itself one of Europe’s fastest-growing defense firms, manufacturing armored vehicles and ammunition for numerous NATO countries and also supplying Ukraine. The company had announced earlier its plans to go public by listing on Euronext Amsterdam, located on the Damrak.

The company is controlled by 33-year-old CEO Michal Strnad, son of the company’s founder, Jaroslav Strnad. The group has over 100 subsidiaries and employs more than 14,000 people globally.

It has pursued an active acquisition strategy, including the purchase of a U.S. firearms ammunition producer in late 2024. CSG says the funds raised from the stock market listing will be reinvested into the business.

Large investors such as BlackRock, Artisan Partners, and Qatar’s Al-Rayyan Holding have committed a total of 900 million euros to the company. The war in Ukraine and the surge in European defense spending have driven significant gains in the share prices of European defense firm.