SpaceX IPO Upends KKR’s Billion-Euro OHB Exit While Asteroid Contract Lifts Shares
11.06.2026 - 20:27:15 | boerse-global.de
The collision of two vastly different space stories has sent OHB shares on a rollercoaster this week. The German aerospace group’s stock surged 9.10 percent on Thursday to €401.50, powered by news of a new European Space Agency contract. But beneath that surface-level rally, a much bigger drama is unfolding: private equity giant KKR, which holds roughly 29 percent of OHB, saw its planned multi-billion-euro share sale spectacularly derailed by SpaceX’s sudden initial public offering announcement.
The KKR block trade, sized at over €1 billion, had been slated for June 12. When Elon Musk’s rocket company blindsided markets with its own IPO plans, banks quickly diverted underwriting capacity and investor attention toward that mega-deal, forcing KKR to shelve its OHB placement at the last minute. The investor now has until June 30, 2026, to execute the sale, and the banking syndicate has been expanded to seven institutions. If the transaction eventually goes through, OHB’s free float would surge to around 26 percent, dramatically altering trading dynamics in the often-thin stock.
The ESA contract that sparked Thursday’s rally is no small matter. OHB’s Italian subsidiary will lead the industrial team for the RAMSES mission, building the core module for a spacecraft designed to rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis during its extremely close flyby of Earth in April 2029. The deal is worth €81.2 million, with launch targeted for spring 2028. OHB Italia is also developing the hyperspectral camera HAMLET, which will analyze Apophis’s surface in the infrared spectrum to study space weathering and spectral changes — data that researchers hope will sharpen planetary defense capabilities.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying OHB SE?
Operationally, OHB continues to fire on all cylinders. The company’s order book hit a record €3.35 billion at the end of March, a 45 percent jump year-on-year, with Space Systems accounting for the lion’s share. First-quarter adjusted operating profit climbed 63 percent to €16.8 million, while group EBITDA reached €27.3 million and net income nearly tripled to just under €10 million. Group revenue rose 15 percent in the period.
Yet the stock’s wild ride tells a more complicated story. Despite the year-to-date gain of over 230 percent, shares remain far from the 52-week peak of €688 set in May. Technical analysts note that the stock is testing its 50-day moving average at €364.49 — a level that, if held, would keep the broader uptrend intact. The extreme volatility has one clear driver: the KKR overhang. With a potential flood of shares waiting in the wings, any positive headline tends to produce sharp but short-lived rallies.
Shareholders, meanwhile, received their annual dividend of €0.60 per share today, a modest payout that underscores the tension between OHB’s operational strength and the uncertainty cast by its largest investor’s exit plans.
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