After failing to win the shareholder support needed to complete a €5.32 billion buyout, Stada is changing key executives. The company announced the resignations of CEO Matthias Wiedenfels and CFO Helmut Kraft following a board meeting on Tuesday and quickly appointed new management.
A former Boehringer Ingelheim exec, Engelbert Coster Tjeenk Willink will serve as interim CEO, Stada said on Tuesday. The company tapped Bernhard Düttmann, who has served as CFO at chemicals firm Lanxess and skin care company Beiersdorf, for its top financial post on an interim basis.
The executive changes are the latest in a dramatic run for Stada. After months of buyout talk, Stada agreed in May to a buyout by investment firms Bain and Cinven at €66 a share. But that proposed deal failed to win enough shareholder support in last week's vote.
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Now, Bain and Cinven are thinking about taking another run at the company, despite a German financial regulation that requires a one-year waiting period between offers, according to Bloomberg. Stada and the investment companies would have to petition for a waiver to that regulation.
Sources told the news service the new offer would likely be around the same price, but would require 65% shareholder support rather than 67.5%. Their previous attempt failed with 65.52% support.
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After the previous effort fell through, Stada said the vote was a shareholder affirmation of the company’s strategy and direction. The company kept that tone in Tuesday’s announcement, with board chair Ferdinand Oetker saying the drugmaker will “continue on our strategy undeterred” and will “examine any potential new takeover offers impartially."
Boston-based Bain and London’s Cinven aren’t the only companies to have shown interest in the German generics maker along the way. During months of buyout talks, Boston private equity firm Advent International advanced a $3.7 billion offer, and other firms reportedly considered making a run at the drugmaker. When Stada received Advent’s offer, it said it’d continue to play the market.