PARIS — French land arms specialist Nexter and German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann will sign an agreement to form a 50:50 partnership Wednesday, the French Defence Ministry said.
"Nexter Systems and KMW form a partnership to become the European leader in land weapons," the ministry said Monday in a press invitation to the signing, which will be held at the Defence Ministry.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and the German parliamentary secretary for the Defence Ministry, Markus Grubel, will attend the signing.
Nexter Chairman Philippe Burtin and KMW Chairman Frank Haun announced a year ago their plan to form a 50:50 joint venture with a holding company named KMW and Nexter Together, or KANT. The company will be based in Amsterdam.
The joint venture will have combined annual sales of almost €2 billion (US $2.2 billion).
A privatization law for state-owned Nexter is undergoing a review under the constitutional council, as the upper and lower parliamentary houses have adopted the measure. The Nexter privatization is part of the Macron law, a package intended to liberalize the domestic economy. Emmanuel Macron, a former investment banker, is the Economy minister. The Bode family controls KMW.
Email: ptran@defensenews.com
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