Stada, the German generic drugmaker, has received two offers for takeover, with one estimated to be €3.5 billion, thought to be from Cinven. The other bidder for the company is Advent International and it seems that Stada is happy to play the two rivals in order to negotiate the best price for itself.

Stada released a short statement upon the potential takeover: "The Executive Board of STADA Arzneimittel AG has today decided unanimously to start open-minded talks with both potential bidders for the acquisition of up to 100 percent of the shares in the Company. Both legally non-binding expressions of interest from Cinven Partners LLP and from Advent International Corporation, which the Executive Board considered for some time, could offer in different ways attractive opportunities in the interest of the Company."

The move is thought to have been encouraged by Active Ownership Capital that grew a stake of 7% of share in the company last year. Previously, Stada’s former CEO, Hartmu Retzlaff, had rebuffed any potential mergers as they adapted to generics market place that developed behemoths, such as Teva.

It now looks like Stada will become another part of the consolidation movement that is being seen across the generics market. With Retzlaff having left last year, as mentioned in the statement, Stada has become more ‘open-minded’ to approaches. The two current bidders may not be alone, as the news is now public, there is the possibility that other companies may begin to take a closer look at Stada in view of a potential takeover.

Ben Hargreaves