The German government is buying a minority stake in defence supplier Hensoldt, a company that derives from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus’s former defence and security electronics division for security reasons.
The state-owned KfW development bank said on Monday that it was buying 25.1% of the stakes in Hensoldt on behalf of the federal government in Berlin. German cabinet decided in December to buy the stake to prevent unfriendly powers from getting hold of things such as sensors and encryption technology for military use, the news agency reported.
Hensoldt also supplies components for Eurofighter planes, among other things. It has about 5,600 employees and had revenue of 1.2 billion euros last year. It is based in Taufkirchen, near Munich.
