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Shares in European ammunition maker Czechoslovak Group rose 25 percent in their trading debut in Amsterdam on Friday, underscoring investors’ appetite for defense stocks as Europe races to rebuild its military capability.
CSG shares were trading at €31.50 as of Friday morning, above the offer price of €25 per share and valuing the company at more than €31 billion.
The Prague-based company, which makes munitions and armored vehicles, offered 15.2 percent of its shares on Friday in one of Europe’s biggest listings in recent years. Artisan Partners, BlackRock and Al-Rayyan Holding – a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority – acted as cornerstone investors, committing a total of €900mn for the IPO.
The deal is Amsterdam’s biggest listing in the past decade, according to Bloomberg data, and Europe’s first major IPO of 2026, leading investors to expect what will be a busy year for the continent’s equity capital markets.
European defense stocks have been strongly bullish this year, and CSG is the first in a wave of defense IPOs expected in 2026, as companies aim to capitalize on higher valuations.
Franco-German tank maker KNDS and British metals engineer Doncaster Group are also preparing IPOs, the FT reported last year.
“Defense has done very well in the public markets and given the lack of listed ways to play it, investor interest in IPOs in this space is high,” said Ashish Jhajharia, head of equity capital markets at JPMorgan.
The Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense Index – a basket of European defense names – has risen more than 10 percent in January, adding up to a 57 percent gain in 2025. The sub-index trades at around 36 times the price-to-earnings ratio, compared with 17 times for the broader Stoxx Europe 600.
German arms maker Rhinemetall gained 154 percent last year as U.S. President Donald Trump pressured European governments to step up their defense, prompting new spending commitments.
NATO members agreed last June to meet Trump’s demand to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product.
CSG Chairman Michael Strnad said the company’s listing “strengthens our ability to fulfill our mission to become a key long-term supplier of advanced defense and industrial solutions to NATO states and government partners around the world”.
BNP Paribas, Jefferies, JP Morgan and UniCredit were the lead banks in the CSG deal.
