Nexter, KMW Complete Initial Merger Phase

Nexter Systems and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) have closed the initial merger phase under a Dutch incorporated holding company.

Two of the European manufacturers of military land systems based in France and Germany will operate jointly under the umbrella of a holding company under Dutch law with headquarters in Amsterdam, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.

The sole shareholders of each of the two companies have transferred all their shares into the holding company who will operate in the legal form of an N.V.; in return they have each received 50 per cent of the shares in the umbrella company.

As part of the completion, the supervisory board of the joint holding company has also met in Amsterdam for its constitutive meeting. It comprises seven members and is chaired by the Belgium national, Christian Jourquin. The French owner appointed Jean-Severin Deckers (APE-State Holding Agency) and Bertrand Le Meur (DGA-French defense procurement agency) to the supervisory board; the owners of KMW appointed Dr. Manfred Bode and Axel J. Arendt.

Alongside the independent chairman of the supervisory board, both shareholders appointed Antoine Bouvier (CEO of MBDA) and Prof. Dr. Dr. Utz Hellmuth Felcht onto the board as additional independent members.

The supervisory board appointed the new CEO of Nexter Systems, Stéphane Mayer, and the chairman of the executive board of KMW, Frank Haun, as CEOs of the holding company.