British defence, marine and industrial firm Inocea Group is in talks to buy warship builder German Naval Yards Kiel (GNYK), a person familiar with the matter said, highlighting growing demand for defence assets fuelled by geopolitical tensions.
The interest suggests bidding competition for GNYK, given the CEO of Germany's TKMS said last week the world's largest maker of non-nuclear submarines was considering a bid for the company headquartered in the same port city of Kiel.
Defence companies and investors across Europe are moving to expand industrial capacity, under pressure from rising military spending, stretched order books and governments urging faster delivery of naval and defence equipment after years of underinvestment.
Inocea Group is privately owned and controlled by its founders, Alex Vicefield and James Davies, and has offices in London and Monaco, according to its website.
A spokesperson for Inocea said the group was continually assessing ways to strengthen its strategic position in specialised shipbuilding, whether through organic growth or M&A.
"This is an approach consistent with the growth of our Canadian business and recent expansion in Finland and the United States," the spokesperson said.
GNYK CEO Rino Brugge told Reuters the company was always open to strategic international partnerships, declining to comment on the identity of potential suitors.
GNYK is part of the family-owned CMN Naval group - a French shipbuilder active in naval and yacht construction - and employs around 400 people directly. It does not disclose its financial results.
The shipyard's Baltic Sea location places it close to NATO's eastern flank and major regional sea lanes, while access to the Kiel Canal offers a rare logistical advantage by linking the Baltic with the North Sea.
TKMS CEO Oliver Burkhard said last week that the group planned to decide soon on whether to pursue a takeover of GNYK as part of its expansion push, which already saw it acquire MV Werften in 2022.
Inocea describes its core business as buying, building, investing and operating companies in the marine, defence and energy industries. It owns Canadian firm Davie Shipbuilding.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Additional reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Anousha Sakoui, Christoph Steitz and Tomasz Janowski)