The prospect of a bidding war drove shares in Stada (STAGn.DE) 14 percent higher on Monday after the German drugmaker said it was weighing two takeover approaches, including one from private equity firm Cinven Partners which valued it at almost 3.5 billion euros ($3.7 billion).
Buyout firms Advent, Permira and CVC have been working on offers for months and approached Stada about a deal, people familiar with the situation told Reuters. It remains unclear which of them Stada was referring to as the second suitor in its statement.
Cinven itself had been preparing a joint bid with Poland’s unlisted Polpharma SA to combine the two drugs businesses and cut costs. The buyout firm decided to go it alone when the venture proved too complicated, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
