The mechanical engineering company Heidelberger Druckmaschinen is further focusing on the defense sector and is planning a joint venture in the drone sector.
A joint venture is to be founded together with the US-Israeli Ondas Autonomous Systems. The company announced on Wednesday in Heidelberg that it was about setting up a shop for the growing market for autonomous drone defense systems. The share listed in the SDAX rose significantly.
The supervisory board and management board have approved the project, but the establishment is still subject to approval by the authorities. Heidelberger Druck wants to take a 49 percent stake in the joint venture, with the partner holding the rest.
According to the information, Ondas Autonomous Systems is a subsidiary of Ondas Holding, a provider of autonomous defense and security systems. Ondas’ products are to be marketed through the joint venture in Germany and Ukraine. Sales will later be expanded to Europe. In addition, the products will be further developed in the short and medium term and then assembly will take place locally. The aim is also to produce on an industrial scale based on European supply chains.
For Heideldruck, this is a further step into the armaments sector. In order to open up new growth areas, the group had already announced a strategic partnership with Vincorion in the summer of 2025, which is aimed at the joint development and production of systems in the defense sector.
This announcement caused Heidelberger Druck shares to rally on the stock market. The share price rose by around three quarters to just over 2.80 euros within a few days. But the euphoria about entering the booming arms business quickly faded.
The price collapsed again in the weeks and months that followed and fell to 1.30 euros. On Wednesday, following the announcement of the planned joint venture in the drone defense sector via XETRA, the price initially rose by up to 13 percent. However, the paper could not maintain its double-digit plus for long; Ultimately, the share price increased by 9.20 percent to 1.45 euros.
The mechanical engineering company’s shares are considered to be prone to fluctuations – the price fell from more than 3 euros at the beginning of 2022 to less than one euro in 2024. With a market value of around 440 million euros, the company in the SDAX is one of those with a comparatively low market capitalization.
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HEIDELBERG (dpa-AFX)
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