The Renk IPO - Defense from Private to Public - Susanne Wiegand and Christian Schulz (IPO Stories, Ep. 42)

In this episode of IPO Stories, we speak with Susanne Wiegand and Christian Schulz, former CEO and CFO of RENK, one of Europe’s most important defense suppliers. RENK, a 150-year-old German industrial company specializing in high-performance transmissions for tanks and naval vessels, listed in Germany in February 2024 and is now valued at over €6 billion, with shares up more than 300% since the IPO. The listing came at a moment when Europe’s security environment — and investor perception of defense — was undergoing a profound shift.

Susanne and Christian describe how geopolitics fundamentally reshaped RENK’s strategy, investor base, and capital structure. Defense was no longer a niche or cyclical business, but a long-term structural growth market. Independence mattered. Speed mattered. And access to public equity became essential to scale capacity, invest ahead of demand, and remain a neutral supplier to all major primes. The episode offers a rare inside view into how leadership teams must sometimes move faster — and think more clearly — than both advisers and markets.

Beyond the transaction itself, this conversation is about judgment under pressure. How do you educate investors when sentiment lags reality? How do you build conviction in a misunderstood sector? And what does it really take — culturally, operationally, and personally — to lead a company into public markets when history is moving faster than capital markets? This is an episode about leadership, credibility, and why Europe’s defense industry is entering a fundamentally new chapter.

Disclaimer: The discussion in this episode is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording has no contractual value and is intended for informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants in this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed. Any views expressed are those of the guests only, and not of Amundsen Investment Management.