- Leonardo completed on 17 March 2026 the acquisition of Iveco Group’s land defence business, including the Iveco Defence Vehicles and Astra brands, for a consideration of €1.6 billion paid entirely in cash. The price is in line with the €1.7 billion enterprise value set out in the binding agreement of 30 July 2025, net of contractual adjustments.
- The transaction was an explicit condition for the completion of the voluntary public takeover bid launched by Tata Motors for the entire share capital of Iveco Group at €14.1 per share, for a total value of around €3.8 billion. Only after the separation of the defence division will Tata be able to acquire an Iveco focused on civilian industrial vehicles, without the political and regulatory complexities linked to military assets.
- Indian analysts and financial media view the deal as scale-accretive, with an EV/EBITDA multiple of around 2x on Iveco’s figures, and frame it within Tata Motors’ strategy to build a global commercial vehicle group with two strategic domestic markets: India and Europe. The risks highlighted concern the complexity of integration and exposure to the European truck market cycle.
On 17 March 2026 Leonardo completed the acquisition of Iveco Group’s land defence business, acquiring 100% of Idv Group — the company that brings together the Iveco Defence Vehicles (Idv) and Astra brands — for €1.6 billion, financed entirely with available cash. Completion of the transaction followed Iveco Group’s announcement on 16 March that all conditions precedent to the sale had been met, including clearance under Italy’s golden power rules by the Italian Government.
The deal was first announced on 30 July 2025, when Leonardo and Iveco signed a binding agreement with an enterprise value of €1.7 billion. The final price of €1.6 billion reflects the contractual adjustments provided for in the agreement: according to Iveco, the final determination of these adjustments is expected by early April 2026, while the shareholders’ meeting is scheduled for 25 March 2026 to vote on the distribution of an extraordinary dividend estimated at between €5.5 and €6 per share.
The perimeter transferred to Leonardo includes the Italian plants in Bolzano, Piacenza and Vittorio Veneto, a portfolio of national and international programmes — including those under European cooperation — and design and engineering capabilities in tactical, logistics and armoured vehicles. Iveco’s defence division recorded revenues of around €1.1 billion in 2024 and approximately €1.37 billion in 2025, with positive margins, confirming it as one of the group’s most profitable businesses. In the 2025 financial statements, the Defence Business Unit was classified as “discontinued operations”, with a carrying value of around €313 million as at 31 December 2025.
With this acquisition, Leonardo strengthens an integrated land defence hub, combining vehicle platforms from Idv and Astra with its existing portfolio of electronic systems, turrets, sensors and communications. The group aims to integrate the new perimeter with its existing joint venture with Rheinmetall, enhancing its competitive position in NATO and non-NATO markets. Chief executive Roberto Cingolani said the deal strengthens Leonardo’s competitiveness in a segment with strong growth prospects, driven by European rearmament and commitments by NATO member states.
For Iveco Group, the sale reflects a strategy of focusing on its core industrial vehicles and engines business. The divestment monetises a highly profitable asset, strengthens the group’s financial structure and clarifies the industrial perimeter on which Tata Motors is set to launch its offer, reducing the political complexities associated with operating in a sensitive sector such as defence. Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli-Elkann family and Iveco’s main shareholder, is orchestrating a broader plan: the sale of the military division to Leonardo was a necessary condition, now fulfilled, for the completion of Tata Motors’ takeover bid for the remainder of the group.
The process was not without obstacles. Between late 2025 and early 2026, the dossier underwent detailed scrutiny by the Italian Government under golden power legislation, involving the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The process took longer than expected: completion had initially been planned by March 2026, but was finalised only mid-month, after all conditions were declared satisfied on 16 March.
The case has also been closely monitored by metalworkers’ unions — Fim-Cisl, Fiom-Cgil, Uilm, Fismic, Uglm and Aqcfr — to safeguard the approximately 1,900 employees directly affected by the transfer to Leonardo, including direct employees, agency workers and security staff. Key demands concern maintaining employment levels at the three main sites, preserving favourable conditions under the so-called “Contratto Fiat” during its harmonisation with Leonardo’s supplementary agreement, and clarity on the obligations imposed by golden power in terms of investment, research and development, and the supply chain. Following meetings at the Ministry of Enterprises, Leonardo confirmed the continuation of activities at the Bolzano, Piacenza and Vittorio Veneto sites; discussions remain ongoing on regulatory and pay harmonisation.
Completion of the sale to Leonardo clears the path for Tata Motors’ acquisition of the remainder of Iveco. The Indian group has announced a voluntary all-cash public takeover bid for the entire share capital of Iveco Group at €14.1 per share, for a total value of around €3.8 billion, through its subsidiary Tml Cv Holdings or a newly established Dutch vehicle. The offer was conditional — among other factors — on the completion of the defence business divestment by the end of March 2026, a condition now satisfied. Tata Motors’ leadership reiterated, following its January 2026 announcement, that the transaction was “on track” with the stated timetable, with the aim of completing the deal in the first quarter of the 2026–27 financial year, between April and June 2026.
Indian financial analysis frames the Iveco acquisition as the natural next step following the demerger of Tata Motors’ commercial vehicles division, with the aim of building a global commercial transport group with two strategic markets: India and Europe. Figures cited by leading Indian business media point to a combined entity with revenues of around €22 billion, annual volumes of approximately 540,000 vehicles and a revenue split of about 50% in Europe, 35% in India and 15% in the Americas. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Motors, said the group aims to “compete on a truly global basis” through complementary operations and greater scale, and to step up investment in zero-emission transport technologies.
The main industrial strengths identified by Indian analysts include Iveco’s European commercial and manufacturing network, its design and homologation capabilities within EU markets, and the geographical complementarity between the two groups, with minimal overlap: Tata is strong in India, Iveco in Europe and South America. Particular attention is given to the Iveco Bus and Heuliez brands, seen as key assets in the European electric and low-emission bus segment, where Tata does not yet have direct manufacturing facilities.
Reports summarised by Ndtv Profit and other financial media describe the deal as scale-accretive, with an EV/EBITDA multiple of around 2x on Iveco’s figures, considered favourable compared with sector averages. A recurring comparison is with the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover: entry into Europe via a strong brand, retention of local brands and decision-making centres, and gradual integration of technologies and platforms.
Some analysts caution, however, that integrating a complex European business such as Iveco will take time and that the final outcome will depend on the ability to manage political constraints linked to Italy’s golden power — with expected formal commitments on headquarters in Turin, employment and green transition investments — as well as on trends in the European industrial vehicle market, already under pressure from costs and the shift to zero-emission propulsion.
Golden power is seen in Indian analyses not as a definitive obstacle but as a variable to manage: the same sources note that Italian rules were previously used to block the entry of China’s Faw into Iveco, and that the Tata dossier has been and will continue to be scrutinised by the Government. The prevailing view is that the Italian Government has granted conditional approval, requiring formal commitments on maintaining the legal headquarters in Turin, safeguarding employment and investing in the transition to low-emission vehicles. The decision to first divest the defence division to Leonardo — a domestic player considered politically unproblematic — and then open Iveco to Tata is interpreted as a deliberate sequence designed to minimise political resistance and concentrate golden power conditions on the group’s civilian perimeter.
M.L.
