Although it still enjoys a dominant position in the global conventional submarine market and an order book that flirts with €12 billion, the German shipbuilder tKMS, based in Kiel, is in a delicate position.
In fact, a few weeks ago, negotiations with the Carlyle group for the investment fund's stake in the German industrial group, have come to a halt, due to the German government's opposition to the procedure. Despite this, the German state has not announced a significant stake in tKMS, while the parent company, Thyssenkrupp, is constantly trying to sell it.
It seems that the difficult situation of the Kiel group has inspired Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilder which produces, in particular, all the military vessels of the Marina Militare, and which has won several first-rate successes in recent years on the international scene, notably by imposing the Italian FREMM as the basic model for the new US Navy frigate, the Constellation class.
Indeed, during the Euronaval 2024 trade fair, Fincantieri made known its potential interest in carrying out a major European consolidation in the naval sector, through a possible merger with tKMS.
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Update of November 8, 2024 : Following the publication of this article, Fincantieri denied having made a takeover proposal concerning TKMS. Its CEO responded to a direct question from journalists from BreakingDefense.com about a possible merger with the German group, on the sidelines of the presentation made on Fincantieri's prospects, within the framework of the Euronaval show.
The latter said it was a long-standing partner of tKMS (Fincantieri builds the Type 212 submarines for the Marina Militare), and that as such the Italian group was open to discussions, without elaborating further than that.
For the moment, therefore, the subject is more than hypothetical and is not on the agenda of the Italian shipbuilder, even if the latter says it is ready to study the question, if the request were made.
Thyssenkrupp wants to sell its tKMS naval division, the Western leader in conventionally powered submarines and builder of the Méko frigates
Despite solid current and future activity, with the construction of the future F-125/127 frigates of the Bundesmarine, as well as the 8 Type 212CD submarines ordered by Oslo and Berlin, for an order book valued at €11,9 billion, the German naval group no longer has the favour of its parent company, the industrial group Thyssenkrupp.
However, the latter's efforts in favour of a sale have never been successful until now, most recently with the investment fund Carlyle, previously with the French Naval Group, and before that, again, with the Italian Fincantieri.
While valuation disagreements may have caused some previous negotiations to fail, it was above all the opposition of the German government that caused negotiations with the American investment fund Carlyle to derail a few weeks ago.
It is not surprising that there are many candidates for a takeover or merger with tKMS. Indeed, from the 1970s to 2000, the industrialist was the undisputed Western champion in the field of exporting conventionally powered submarines, with 68 Type 200 submarines ordered by 14 world navies, from 1968 to today, supplemented by 25 much more modern and recent Type 214/218, as well as 14 Type 212 submarines ordered to date, including 6 for the Bundesmarine.
This success, already more than remarkable, is completed in the field of combat surface units, by that of the Meko 200 model, a heavy corvette / light frigate sold in 34 copies for eight world navies, as well as around twenty frigates and corvettes built for the German Navy, over the last thirty years.
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Naval Group scares the spiked helmets, that's right 🙂
Hello, you seem to love our German friends, especially their politicians!
Classes available every day from Nine AM to Twelve midday.
In previous articles you mentioned France's military and industrial cooperation with other European countries such as Belgium and Greece.
Would it be possible for you to write a new article on this subject, in particular on cooperation with Belgium taking into account recent developments (purchase of French equipment by the Belgian Defense, purchase of French companies by Belgian groups, development of common industrial structures in Belgium, etc.)
Thank you