OHB’s Ambitious Defense Push Faces a Shareholder Revolt Over a €1.2 Billion Dilution Plan
05.06.2026 - 13:06:11 | boerse-global.de
The transformation of OHB from a satellite manufacturer into a full-spectrum space and military technology partner is accelerating — but the ride at the shareholder level is anything but smooth. As the company prepares for its annual general meeting on Monday, a deepening rift has opened between management’s growth ambitions and the minority owners who fear their stakes are about to be diluted into irrelevance.
The core flashpoint is a proposed €1.2 billion financing framework that would allow OHB to issue convertible bonds, warrants, and participation rights through 2031. To back that, executives want to create new contingent capital worth up to 3.84 million shares — an expansion of roughly 20% of the current share capital. The company argues the war chest is necessary to fund its swelling order backlog of €3.35 billion, which includes everything from the €839 million LISA science mission for the European Space Agency to a €248 million weather satellite contract. Yet the German Association for the Protection of Shareholders (DSW) has urged its members to reject the plan, calling it a blunt instrument that could inflict severe dilution without adequate investor protections. The DSW also flagged a lack of individual euro-denominated caps on executive pay, a departure from Germany’s corporate governance code.
Complicating the governance picture, private equity giant KKR is in the midst of a major exit. The U.S. buyout firm, which currently holds about 29% of OHB, aims to cut its stake to a single-digit percentage by the end of June. The resulting share placement — effectively a re-IPO — would lift the free float from a thin 6% to roughly 26%, potentially drawing in institutional investors and making the stock eligible for index inclusion. KKR is keeping the timing flexible to avoid clashing with the expected initial public offering of SpaceX in mid-June, which is already siphoning capital away from the space sector.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying OHB SE?
Against this backdrop of structural change, OHB’s operational performance has been stellar. First-quarter figures for 2026 showed total output leaping 15% year-on-year to €279.3 million, while EBITDA climbed to €25.7 million from €17.3 million. The company’s Swedish subsidiary secured a €7.6 million ESA contract to build the EPS-Sterna constellation, 20 small satellites for polar weather monitoring. Separately, OHB has advanced its defense pivot by establishing the joint venture KIRK alongside European AI specialist Helsing, focused on tactical space-based reconnaissance systems — a bet that rising European military budgets will funnel billions into space intelligence assets. A separate initiative, the European Spaceport Company, aims to launch rockets from land and sea, giving the continent independent access to orbit.
Investors, however, have been focused on the near-term risks rather than the long-term opportunities. The stock tumbled 6.6% on Friday to €387.50, pushing the weekly loss to more than 11%. That retreat has widened the gap from the May record high to more than 40%, though the shares remain up a staggering 237% for the year. From the 52-week low of €64.20 struck in September 2025, the rally still exceeds 500%. Technical support sits at the 50-day moving average of €355.11, a further 8% below the current price.
Monday’s AGM vote will test whether management can persuade a skeptical shareholder base to back the €1.2 billion fundraising plan. With the KKR overhang set to expand the free float in the coming weeks and a record backlog providing underlying earnings momentum, OHB finds itself at a crossroads: the capital it needs to win the space race may come at the cost of the ownership structure that has rewarded early believers so handsomely.
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