Poland's drone maker WB Electronics lines up banks for a €5-7bn Warsaw IPO as state fund PFR backs a 2027 debut
What's the deal? Polish defence group WB Electronics (WB Group) is moving towards a listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Its owners have asked banks to pitch for roles on a possible initial public offering next year, the Financial Times reported on 5 November, citing people familiar with the matter, with two of them putting the valuation at about €5 billion to €7 billion. Polish daily Parkiet, which first reported the plan on 4 November, says the owners have agreed on an IPO, that J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are among the banks interested, and that WB wants to be listed by June 2027 at a valuation that could exceed US$7.5B (about €7 billion).
The latest: On 13 November Mikołaj Raczyński, chief executive of state development fund PFR, told Parkiet that "it seems a debut of WB Electronics could happen next year" and that PFR sees it as "an interesting step" in the company's development, while stressing that no final decision has been taken, WNP reports. WB itself says the listing is one of several options its shareholders are considering.
The business: WB makes FlyEye reconnaissance drones, Warmate loitering munitions, the Gladius strike system, Fonet battlefield communications and the Topaz fire-control system used on Krab and K9 howitzers. A company presentation seen by the FT puts annual revenue above $1 billion after a tenfold rise from 2021 to 2025, with an order backlog of about $9 billion covering the next four years. In the first half of 2026 net profit doubled to US$129.9M (about €120 million) from US$63.5M, on revenue of almost US$400M, up from 1.1 billion, according to Parkiet. On 4 November a joint venture with South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace, 49% owned by WB, started building a rocket plant in Gorzów Wielkopolski.
Who owns it: Co-founder and chief executive Piotr Wojciechowski holds about 45.5% through a family foundation, co-founder Adam Bartosiewicz about 28% and PFR 26.44%. PFR has said it backs a listing but does not plan to exit fully. The structure of any offer, new shares or a sale by existing owners, has not been disclosed.
What could slow it: Because WB is on Poland's list of strategically important companies, a listing needs additional government approval, and the company may need exemptions from disclosure rules because of the sensitive nature of its contracts, Bloomberg reported in February, when it said WB had hired White & Case as legal adviser.
Why it matters: At €5 billion to €7 billion, WB would be one of the largest listings in Warsaw and the biggest test yet of public-market appetite for a European drone maker, after Czech defence group CSG drew more than $60 billion of orders for its Amsterdam IPO, according to Bloomberg. It would also give investors a listed benchmark for Europe's privately funded drone and defence-tech companies.
Sources: Financial Times, 5 November
Parkiet, 4 November
WNP, 13 November
Bankier.pl / PAP Biznes, 1 October
Bloomberg, 4 February
Image credit: Defence Blog / WB Group Gladius
