Leopards, Leonidas and a Greek Factory Now in Israeli Hands

The Israeli holding company SK Group has acquired full ownership of ELVO, Greece's leading producer of specialised military and civilian vehicles, giving the group its first operational base in Europe. SK Group, already a shareholder, said the move underlines its long-term commitment to Greece by strengthening local industry, innovation and exports.

ELVO is best known for building Leonidas armoured personnel carriers and Steyr trucks, and for assembling Leopard 2 HEL main battle tanks for the Hellenic Army. “We see tremendous potential in ELVO's infrastructure and legacy,” said SK Group's vice chairman, Ronen Hamudot, adding that the company intends to turn the manufacturer into a premier global production and export hub.

The factory being bought

ELVO (the Hellenic Vehicle Industry) is based in Thessaloniki, Greece's second city, and has built military vehicles for the Greek armed forces for close to 50 years, mostly under licence rather than to its own designs, the Defense Post reported. Alongside the Leonidas carrier and the Leopard 2 assembly line, its output has included Mercedes-Benz G-Class jeeps, specialised trucks and buses for civil protection and public services, according to To Vima.

How SK Group got to 100%

This was the end of a process rather than a single purchase. SK Group took a 79% stake in ELVO in 2021, in a transaction involving the Israeli armour specialist Plasan, and has now bought the remaining shares, To Vima reported. Hamudot told the Jerusalem Post that full ownership “marks a significant milestone in our strategic growth plans and deepens ties with Greece”, and that the group intends to keep supplying Greek defence needs while expanding into export markets for armoured fighting vehicles and tanks.

Not everyone in Athens welcomed it

The sale drew political criticism in Greece. The left-wing New Left party condemned it as a sell-out of a strategic national industry, saying “the loss of the most important Greek defense industry to foreign hands undermines the country's national security” and accusing the government of tying Greece to Israel, according to the Defense Post.

Why an Israeli group wants a factory inside the European Union

Israel was the world's eighth-largest arms exporter over the five years to 2024, supplying about 3.1% of global sales, with European customers among its growth markets; Israeli systems account for roughly 13% of Germany's arms imports, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute figures reported by Calcalist. Greece belongs to both the European Union and NATO, and SK Group has described ELVO as its first operational base in Europe, saying it plans to transfer technology into the Thessaloniki plant rather than simply hold the shares.

What was not disclosed

SK Group did not publish a price for the remaining shares, nor the size of the stake it bought. The announcement gave no investment figure, no employment commitment for the Thessaloniki plant, no production targets and no timetable for the export expansion it describes. It also did not say whether the Greek state retains any special rights over a manufacturer that supplies its army.