The shareholders of Deutz AG voted at an extraordinary general meeting on August 24 with 99.7 percent in favor of a capital increase in kind. This decision paves the way for the acquisition of Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft mbH (FFG) and marks the largest purchase in the company’s history. With the transaction, Deutz accelerates the transformation from an engine manufacturer to a broadly diversified industrial group with a highly profitable defense division as its new pillar.
The Federal Cartel Office had already approved the acquisition on July 31. Since the business fields of Deutz and FFG do not overlap and FFG had not previously been a major purchaser of engines, the authority assessed the takeover as unproblematic from a competition perspective.
Corporate strategy “Next Deutz”
The transaction was announced by the company on July 9. Through the merger of the two traditional companies, a new European system provider for military vehicles, modern propulsion systems and decentralized energy solutions is created. The firm implements the merger within the framework of the “Next Deutz” corporate strategy, which aims to transform the company into a broadly diversified industrial group.
Since early 2026, Deutz has been organized into four business units: Engines, Service, Energy, New Tech and Defense. The newly created Defense unit achieved revenue of €22.1 million in the past year and is expected to generate ten percent of group revenue in the medium term. That would be around €240 million.
FFG wird Herzstück des Defense-Geschäfts
FFG will in the future form the core of Deutz’s defense business. The Flensburg-based company employs over 1,100 people at nine locations and is one of the leading European providers of military land- and special-vehicles. FFG develops, manufactures and maintains armored tracked and wheeled vehicles, including infantry fighting vehicles and recovery vehicles, and is a key partner of the Bundeswehr, NATO, and other armed forces.
The acquisition massively strengthens the company’s growth. In 2025, FFG generated around €760 million in revenue with an annual growth rate of about 50 percent and holds an order backlog of over €1.9 billion. For the coming year, FFG aims to achieve revenue well above one billion euros with a margin of more than 20 percent.
Closing zum Jahreswechsel 2026/2027
The closing is expected after further approvals by the end of 2026 to early 2027. Until then, the Federal Ministries for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and for Defense, together with the authorities BAFA (Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control) and the BAAINBw (Federal Office of Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr) must adjust contracts, agreements and approvals, ensure that security standards continue to be met, and ultimately grant the green light.
As part of the in-kind capital increase, the existing FFG owner families will become new anchor shareholders in Deutz with up to 29.9 percent.
Author: Gerhard Heiming, editor at Wehrwirtschaft
