WASHINGTON — German space company OHB will raise about half a billion euros through a stock sale to allow the company to expand facilities and pursue potential acquisitions.
The company, based in Bremen, Germany, announced June 22 plans to sell about 1.7 million shares at 300 euros per share. The sale would net OHB 490.2 million euros ($557.6 million) after expenses.
While OHB has been publicly traded for about 25 years, nearly all of the company’s shares are owned by the Fuchs family and private equity firm KKR, which bought most of the company’s outstanding shares in a 2023 deal. Marco Fuchs, chief executive of OHB, said at the time that the company was “structurally undervalued” in the public markets, and the deal would effectively take the company private.
With the share sale, OHB is changing course. Before the deal, only about 5% of OHB shares were available on the public market, but with the sale that will increase to nearly 20%. The Fuchs family will retain its controlling 60% stake in the company and KKR will own the remaining 20%.
“We are delighted to make OHB accessible to a broader group of investors again who share our conviction in the future of the European space industry,” Marco Fuchs said in a statement about the share sale.
