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News

  • 04/02/2025
  • Interview

Handelsblatt: Pharmaceutical company plans largest IPO in the first half of 2025


Germany's market leader in over-the-counter drugs wants to go public again. CEO Peter Goldschmidt explains his plans. Under one condition, Stada could even end up in the Dax.

By Theresa Rauffmann

Düsseldorf. The generics company Stada could stage the biggest IPO in Germany and Europe in the first half of the year. After strong growth in 2024, CEO Peter Goldschmidt believes the company is well prepared for the challenge: “We have reached a size where an IPO would be the ideal solution,” he told Handelsblatt.

According to financial and corporate circles, Stada's owners, financial investors Bain and Cinven, want to take the pharmaceutical company public around Easter. The IPO could create a new candidate for the MDax or even the Dax 40. In financial circles, there has been talk of potential valuations between ten and 15 billion euros.

Goldschmidt did not want to comment on potential valuations. He emphasized that it is more important for Stada to be sustainably successful in the medium and long term than the initial price.

The Stada boss also remains vague when it comes to the question of a specific date for the share issue: “No final decision has yet been made as to whether we will go public,” he said, adding that the markets are currently volatile. “The financial opportunities in the market are there,” he says, referring to investor interest.

Financial investors have trimmed Stada for efficiency

According to informed circles, Stada wants to raise between one and two billion euros with the shares issued. It is also said that Bain and Cinven could initially hold a large proportion of the shares.

According to a person familiar with the matter, this would make a listing on the MDax a realistic goal for Stada. Assuming that all shares would be freely tradable, i.e. that Bain and Cinven would sell all their shares, even a listing on the Dax could be a goal. The share with the lowest market capitalization in the Dax is currently the chemical company Brenntag, with a market capitalization of around 8.15 billion euros.

The financial investors Bain and Cinven took over Stada in 2017 for 5.3 billion euros and delisted the company. Before that, the company was listed on the MDAX. Since then, they have streamlined the company for efficiency.

Adjusted EBITDA has more than doubled since 2017, while sales have increased by 80 percent. For the current year, Stada CEO Goldschmidt is forecasting a profit increase of between five and twelve percent.

In addition, Stada has spent around 1.6 billion euros on 20 major acquisitions since 2017, two of which were worth 600 million euros in Russia. Stada spun off its Russian business in 2023, which previously contributed a good 15 percent of total sales. The company's net debt recently rose to 5.6 billion euros.


Germany remains the most important market

The Stada boss rejects speculation that the IPO is merely intended to reduce the debts incurred. However, he says: “If we repay debts through the IPO, we will no longer pay interest on them – and that means that several hundred million in free cash will be available to us in the next few years.” Furthermore, the capital market offers a successful listed company further opportunities to raise money.

The pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt, focuses on the production of generic drugs and over-the-counter drugs (consumer healthcare). It also offers specialty products such as a drug for Parkinson's disease. The company's well-known drugs include the cold remedy Grippostad, the diarrhea remedy Elotrans and the cough suppressant Silomat.

With this portfolio, Stada grew significantly last year. Sales rose by nine percent to 4.06 billion euros. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by eleven percent to 886 million euros. By 2025, Stada is aiming for sales of between 4.25 and 4.4 billion euros and an Ebitda of between 930 and 990 million euros.

Germany is Stada's largest and most important market, accounting for 18 percent of sales. According to Goldschmidt, the Middle East, the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia are also growing strongly. Last year was also a good year in China. However, for many German companies, it has become “a difficult market”.

In Germany, Stada is now larger than Bayer AG in the over-the-counter medicines business, according to market data. Last year, the specialty pharmaceuticals segment grew the strongest, accounting for a good 20 percent of total sales. Over-the-counter drugs and generics each account for a good 40 percent.


“We are proud to be a ray of hope"

Goldschmidt sees his company as a ray of hope in Germany's current situation: ‘The German economy is not doing well right now. We are proud to be a ray of hope because we believe in Germany as a business location.’ Stada plans to keep its headquarters in Germany in the future as well.

But profitability is the deciding factor when it comes to creating new jobs. Two years ago, Stada built a new plant in Vietnam, and most recently a large packaging center in Romania. “In this case, we obviously decided against Germany,” says Goldschmidt.

Stada sees itself as largely unaffected by the decisions of the new US President Donald Trump. For example, Stada deliberately does not sell generic drugs in the US because the business is not profitable, says Goldschmidt. He knows the market: before joining Stada in 2018, he managed the generic drugs business Sandoz of Novartis in the US.

Stada is active in more than 100 countries with 24,000 products. More than 260 new products are currently in development. Goldschmidt also sees this diversification as a strength: “Unlike other pharmaceutical companies, we are not dependent on two or three blockbusters,” he says, alluding to research-based pharmaceutical companies that are repeatedly faced with major patent expiries.