Oppenhoff advises on German-French armaments program Main Ground Combat System (MGCS)

Oppenhoff has advised KNDS Deutschland on the conclusion of a joint venture agreement with KNDS France, Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Thales for the formation of the MGCS Project Company GmbH.

MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) is a German-French armaments program aimed at replacing the Leopard 2 and Leclerc main battle tanks with a cross-platform ground combat system starting in 2040. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu signed a corresponding declaration in spring 2024.

The newly founded company will be headquartered in Cologne and is owned equally by the four partner companies, each holding 25 percent, with a national workforce split of 50 percent in Germany and 50 percent in France.

The implementation of the project is still subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities.

KNDS was formed by the merger of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Nexter, two leading European manufacturers of military land systems based in Germany and France, under the umbrella of KNDS N.V. in Amsterdam. KNDS employs around 10,000 people and generated revenue of 3.3 billion euros in 2023.

Rheinmetall AG, based in Düsseldorf and a listed company, is a leading international systems supplier in  the defense industry and, at the same time, a driver of future-oriented technological and industrial innovations in the civil markets. With over 31,000 employees at 171 locations worldwide, Rheinmetall achieved a revenue of 7.2 billion euros in 2023.

Thales is a global leader in advanced technologies in defense, aerospace, cybersecurity, and digital technologies. The company invests around 4 billion euros in research and development every year. Thales employs approximately 81,000 people in 68 countries and generated a revenue of 18.4 billion euros in 2023.

The Oppenhoff team led by Michael Abels (Aerospace & Defence) and Dr. Regina Engelstädter (both Corporate/M&A) comprised Sebastian Gutmann (Corporate/M&A), Dr. Marc Hilber (Contract Law), Dr. Daniel Dohrn (Competition/Antitrust), Georg Lecheler (IP) and Stephan Müller (Foreign Trade).

Oppenhoff’s Aviation and Defense sector group is familiar with the business models and products, the tight regulatory environment and the expectations and procedures of procurement authorities, and provides pathways to success in procurement projects. Oppenhoff recently advised the KNDS group on the implementation of its new uniform corporate identity.

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