A flag with the CSG NV logo during the listing of their company at Euronext Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
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Shares of Czech-based defense firm Czechoslovak Group (CSG) soared over 30% on its stock market debut on Friday, underscoring sustained investor interest in defense companies amid Europe’s growing push for military sovereignty.
CSG, one of the world’s fastest-growing defense firms, made its debut on the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Shares traded 29% higher at 32.25 euros ($37.85) at 1:54 p.m. London time (8:54 a.m. ET), having jumped as much as 32% earlier in the session. The upswing implies a market capitalization of roughly 32.5 billion euros.
The Prague-based company, which makes armed vehicles, ammunition, and advanced defense systems, raised a total of 3.8 billion euros in its initial public offering.
Euronext said the listing marked the world’s largest defense IPO ever recorded, both in terms of amount raised and market capitalization.
“Today marks a historic milestone for CSG as we join the Euronext Amsterdam market and we welcome the confidence shown in us by investors,” Michal Strnad, chairman of CSG, said in a statement.
“Becoming a publicly listed company demonstrates our commitment to high standards of transparency, disclosure and corporate governance and strengthens our ability to invest in innovation, expand our global reach and deliver on our mission to be a critical long-term supplier of advanced defence and industrial solutions to NATO states and Government partners worldwide,” he added.
The listing comes after weeks of mounting geopolitical tensions, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to use military force to seize Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally.
In a surprise development on Wednesday, however, Trump said he had agreed to a framework of a future deal with respect to the self-governing Danish territory.
In Europe, meanwhile, investors have continued to pile into defense stocks, fueled by a mix of European Union, national and private capital funding.
Strategists have cited Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the end of the U.S. defense umbrella in Europe as underpinning a so-called “mega-trend in the making.”
— CNBC’s Hugh Leask contributed to this report.