Clifford Chance advises Kraken Technology Group on joint venture for scalable uncrewed maritime platforms

Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised British defence start-up Kraken Technology Group on its joint venture (JV) with NVL Group (Naval Vessels Lürssen), a leading German shipbuilding group and a recently acquired subsidiary of Rheinmetall. The joint venture between the two highly specialised maritime companies is designed to address the rapidly increasing global demand for market-ready, scalable, uncrewed platforms of various sizes for both military and civilian applications, including the surveillance and protection of critical infrastructure.

The JV plans to rapidly scale up manufacturing capacities for autonomous surface vessels at NVL’s shipyard Blohm+Voss in Hamburg, Germany on top of the already existing capacities in the UK to provide a range of products to the German and European market.

Kraken Technology Group specialises in the development of high-performance, low-cost, uncrewed maritime systems and will benefit from NVL’s comprehensive manufacturing and integration capabilities. Both companies are committed to substantial investment in the roll-out of the joint venture structure.

The Clifford Chance team for Kraken Technology Group comprised partner Moritz Petersen, senior associate Friedrich von Bülow and associate Martin Tiedemann (all Frankfurt), partner Erik O’Connor and senior associate Andrew Quaile (both London; all Corporate), partner Gunnar Sachs and senior associate Marlene Kießling (both Corporate Commercial, Düsseldorf) as well as counsel Nicolas Hohn-Hein (Intellectual Property, Düsseldorf).