The „intention to float“ announcement for Stada's IPO had been widely expected for 19 March. However, the owners Bain and Cinven cancelled the IPO at the last minute, and are now focusing on a new attempt in September. This is the second time this year that the IPO of the generics company from Bad Vilbel has been postponed. The debut was also expected in January. The withdrawal is a bitter setback for the IPO market in Germany.

It remains to be seen what caused the sudden change of heart. According to finance industry sources, the reason was the renewed increase in volatility in stock markets, particularly in the USA. The discount on the valuation of comparable listed competitors such as Sandoz, Haleon or Galderma, which investors demanded for their orders, was presumably higher than Bain and Cinven were prepared to accept. The weak share price performance of the European companies that have gone public so far this year is also likely to have deterred several investors. For example, the share price of B2B hotel bed booking company HBX Group, listed in Madrid, has fallen by around 7% since its IPO.

Last year, Bain and Cinven discussed the sale of Stada with Clayton Dubilier & Rice, as well as with GTCR. Both deals failed to materalise due to differing expectations. Stada is highly indebted at 5.6 billion euros. This corresponds to around six times the operating profit (Ebitda).

With expected issue proceeds of 1.5 billion euros, which would have been used primarily to reduce debt, the Stada IPO would have been the largest in Europe so far this year, and also the largest in Germany since Porsche AG's IPO in 2022.

The total valuation of Stada is estimated at around 11 billion euros. Bain and Cinven acquired Stada in 2017 for 5.3 billion euros. Since then, the company has made several acquisitions, and spun off and separated its profitable and high-revenue Russian business due to the sanctions in connection with the war in Ukraine.

According to the rating agency S&P, the debt ratio fell from around eight times to around seven times operating profit (Ebitda) last year. Stada has plans to reduce its debt of 5.6 billion euros by around 3 billion euros. This would be around two and a half times the operating profit – a level of debt that is considered acceptable on the stock market. Last year, Stada also benefited from growing business. Sales rose by 9% to 4 billion euros, and the operating result adjusted for special and currency effects by 11% to 886 million euros. There was no information on net profit.

CEO Peter Goldschmidt said in an interview with Bloomberg in February that the company had registered „enormous“ interest during the initial soundings with around 60 investors.

If the IPO is able to go ahead in September, Stada has a chance of being included in the MDax or even the Dax. This could act as an icebreaker for other candidates, such as the automotive spare parts dealer Autodoc, the medical technology company Brainlab, and the Internet of Things specialist 1 NCE.

„We are growing faster than most of our competitors and have a very attractive financial profile,“ said Goldschmidt. Listed competitors such as the Swiss Sandoz, and the Swiss skincare group Galderma, as well as the British Haleon, are trading at more than ten times their estimated Ebitda for 2025.

Goldschmidt said that Stada is on track to achieve earnings before exceptional items of 930 million to 990 million euros, and sales of between 4.25 billion and 4.4 billion euros in 2025. This could result in a valuation of 11 billion euros. However, other European stock market newcomers have had to accept considerable reductions of up to a third on the valuation of their already listed competitors.