A flag with the CSG NV logo during the listing at Euronext Amsterdam on Friday, January 23, 2026 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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Shares in Czech-based defense company Czechoslovakia Group (CSG) soared more than 30% in its stock market debut on Friday, underscoring continued investor interest in defense companies amid growing push for military sovereignty in Europe.
CSG, one of the world’s fastest growing defense companies, has made its debut on the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Shares rose as much as 32% during trading and closed 31.4% higher.
The Prague-based company, which manufactures armed vehicles, ammunition and advanced defense systems, raised a total of 3.8 billion euros in an initial public offering.
Euronext said the listing would be the world’s largest defense IPO ever recorded, both in terms of value raised and market capitalization.
“Today marks a historic milestone for CSG in joining the Euronext Amsterdam market. We welcome the confidence our investors have shown in our company,” CSG Chairman Michal Strnad said in a statement.
“Becoming a public company demonstrates our commitment to high standards of transparency, disclosure and corporate governance, strengthens our ability to invest in innovation, expands our global reach and fulfills our mission to be a key long-term supplier of advanced defense and industrial solutions to NATO countries and government partners around the world,” he added.
The listing comes after weeks of heightened geopolitical tensions, with US President Donald Trump threatening to use military force to seize Greenland from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally Denmark.
But in a surprise twist on Wednesday, President Trump said he had agreed to the framework for a future agreement on the autonomous Danish territory.
Meanwhile, in Europe, investors continue to pile into defense stocks, supported by a mix of European Union, state and private financing.
Strategists point to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the end of the United States’ defense umbrella in Europe as supporting so-called “emerging megatrends.”
—CNBC’s Hugh Leask contributed to this report.
