Stada minority shareholders demand additional payment in court

The goal is to obtain a much higher cash settlement and annual guaranteed dividend from the financial investors bain and cinven, explained dusseldorf lawyer peter dreier. He filed a corresponding complaint for the investors with the authorities on tuesday.

The cash compensation of 74.40 euros per share offered by bain and cinven to the remaining shareholders does not adequately reflect the value of stada, said dreier. The annual compensation payment of 3.82 euros per share for shareholders who do not tender their shares to the financial investors is also too low. The fair value per stada share is to be set "above 95 euros. High future profit margins and sales in the course of the restructuring of stada were not adequately taken into account in the company valuation, the plaintiff's representative explained. "Stada is a pearl."

Bain and cinven, which acquired stada last summer for 5.3 billion euros and hold two-thirds of the shares, rejected the accusations. The cash settlement of 74.40 euros per share is "an appropriate compensation," they said. The amount had been confirmed by a court-appointed independent auditor and a valuation expert. The financial investors had received "several requests" for higher compensation in the course of appraisal proceedings.

The deadline for such applications ends this wednesday. A trial date has not yet been set at the regional court in Frankfurt.