Third suitor enters Stada bidding war with €3.61b

Private equity firms including Bain Capital and CVC Capital monitoring situation

Stada Arzneimittel AG is weighing offers as a bidding war for one of the last remaining generic-drug businesses of its size in Germany and Russia begins to unfold.

The company said on Thursday it received a non-binding offer of €58 (Dh226) a share — total value about €3.61 billion — from a third suitor it did not identify. That’s €2 per share more than Cinven Ltd’s bid announced last week. Advent International Corp is also seeking to buy the Bad Vilbel, Germany-based drugmaker.

Advent is planning to raise its offer above Cinven’s bid of €56 a share, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The private equity firm may make an offer between €56 and €60 a share as early as this week, said the people. Advent has held discussions with other buyout firms such as Permira about taking on a partner although no final decisions have been made.

Other private equity firms including Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners are also closely monitoring the situation as they consider whether to bid or team up with others, separate people familiar with the matter said previously. The business may also attract interest from companies including Polpharma SA, the Polish drugmaker, the people had said.

An unusual shareholder structure and entrenched management kept Stada independent for years as erstwhile competitors such as Ratiopharm were bought out by bigger market players.