Hungary’s state-owned defense portfolio, comprising nine companies and associated assets, will come under the control of 4iG SDT as part of a multibillion-forint restructuring deal.
The Hungarian state, through N7 Holding, will retain a minority stake, signaling a significant shift in the country’s defense-industrial strategy toward private sector-led operations.
According to Magyar Nemzet, the HUF 75 to 83 billion transaction will unfold in two steps. First, N7 Holding — a state enterprise overseen by the Ministry of National Economy — will form a new company, N7 Defence Zrt., and transfer its stakes in the relevant defense subsidiaries into it. Then, 4iG SDT will acquire a 75 percent plus one vote majority in the company, leaving N7 Holding with a 25 percent minus one vote share.
While the critical manufacturing infrastructure will remain state-owned, the production and sales activities will be handled by the new majority-private entity. The government emphasized that this structure ensures national sovereignty and supply security while optimizing Hungary’s export capabilities. N7 Defence Zrt., now under 4iG’s operational control, will pay a rental fee for the use of the strategic infrastructure.
“The state-owned N7 Holding will continue to own the critical manufacturing and production infrastructures that ensure sovereignty and security of supply,” the Ministry of National Economy said in a statement. However, “their utilization, i.e. production and sales, will be the responsibility of the new company, majority owned by the market player.”
The move marks another milestone in the expansion of 4iG, a rapidly growing conglomerate with interests across defense, telecommunications, and space technology. The firm made headlines previously for acquiring Vodafone Hungary, taking a 51 percent stake in a deal that saw the Hungarian government retain the remaining 49 percent, effectively creating a market-leading national telecommunications group.
4iG has also been positioning itself as a key player in Hungary’s space ambitions. Its HUSAT satellite initiative aims to launch a geostationary telecom satellite and eight high-resolution earth observation satellites into low Earth orbit by 2032. The program was reportedly a subject of discussion during Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last December, where 4iG CEO Gellért Jászai joined the delegation and met Elon Musk.
In another nod to the growing role of Hungarian firms in space, 4iG recently posted a message of support for astronaut Tibor Kapu, whose planned journey to the International Space Station has been delayed due to technical issues. “While HUNOR launches astronauts, HUSAT launches space assets, and together we are shaping the future of Hungarian space technology,” the company stated.
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