NEWSROOM – Europe’s Defense IPO Party Gets a New Guest

Europe’s Defense IPO Party Gets a New Guest

Mark Nichols

March 9, 2026
THE GIST

Defense remains one of the few corners of Europe’s market where investors are still willing to lean in. Gabler, a German supplier of submarine components and underwater systems, jumped on its Frankfurt debut even as broader European stocks slid, offering the latest sign that Europe’s rearmament boom is no longer just lifting the giants.

Now the niche players are getting their turn too.

WHAT HAPPENED

Gabler Group began trading in Frankfurt on Monday and got off to a strong start. The shares were sold in the IPO at €44 (about $51) each and opened at €50, rising as much as 13.6% before easing back. Even after that pullback, the stock was still trading about 9% above its issue price by midday in Frankfurt.

That came against a pretty ugly backdrop. The Stoxx 600 was down 1.6% as the war in the Middle East sent energy prices higher and pushed investors into risk-off mode. So Gabler was not exactly debuting into sunshine.

The company and its majority owner sold €115.5 million worth of stock in the offering, with the potential for another €17.3 million through an over-allotment option. The deal was priced in the upper half of the marketed range, a clear sign demand was healthy. Bloomberg reported that more than 140 institutions placed orders, with demand running at about seven times the shares available. More than half of interested investors received no allocation.

Gabler also arrived with a story investors clearly want. The Lübeck-based company gets about 75% of its pro-forma revenue from defense and related activities. It makes hoistable masts for submarines and develops technologies used to monitor and protect critical underwater infrastructure, along with systems tied to subsea energy generation.

In December, Gabler announced a contract to support Portuguese submarines, adding to existing work with the German and Italian navies. Chief executive David Schirm said the broader geopolitical turmoil created some nerves around the debut, but also reinforced the need for more defense capabilities.

Gabler is the latest in a growing line of European defense-related IPOs. CSG, the Czech ammunition and armored-vehicle maker, floated in Amsterdam earlier this year. TKMS, the naval shipbuilding business, has listed in Frankfurt. Vincorion, another defense technology company, has already said it plans to go public in the first half of this year.

Source: Moby