In 2023, only three companies went public on the Prime Standard on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange – Ionos, Thyssenkrupp Nucera and Schott Pharma. Although this was two more than in the previous year with the Porsche IPO as the lone offender, it was significantly less than the long term average of seven IPOs since 2010. And only the subsidiary of the foundation owned company Schott was said to have had got off to textbook start. The shares were floated at 27 euros but soon moved up above 30 euros when trading began on 28 September 2023. Hence, this year's Corporate Finance Award in the IPO category went to the Mainz-based company.

According to experts, one reason why Schott Pharma has performed well could be the anchor investor from Qatar – in addition to having a convincing story. The Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, which also has stakes in Deutsche Bank, VW and Siemens, agreed to buy shares worth up to 200 million euros at the IPO price, and holds a 4.9% stake. According to Frank Heinricht, CEO of Schott AG, the commitment from Qatar plays a „very important role“, especially as there were also investors who the company had hoped would invest in Schott Pharma, but who then failed to materialise.

Only existing shares held by the previous sole owner, Schott AG, were offered. The foundation company, which is wholly owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, had always described the subsidiary, which manufactures products such as glass vials and syringes for storing and administering medicines, as the „best horse in the stable’. And its business flourished particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. With its ‘high-value solutions“, Schott Pharma benefits as an innovation leader from long term trends in the pharmaceutical industry. These include for example drugs based on mRNA, such as those in the portfolio of Mainz-based neighbour Biontech, or for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. The latter trend is currently fuelling growth fantasies for the pharmaceutical industry.

According to the company, the market for injectable drugs, on which Schott Pharma focuses, is forecast to grow by an average of over 8% per year. It is thus growing 1.4 times faster than the pharmaceutical market as a whole, to an estimated 579 billion euros by 2026. In the last financial year – ending October 1 – Schott Pharma increased sales and EBITDA by 9% each, and achieved an EBITDA margin of 26.6%. Despite record investments, a free cash flow of 10 million euros was generated.

In view of the convincing key figures and growth prospects, investors were not deterred by the fact that the company chose a rather investor-unfriendly legal form in the form of a KGaA. The KGaA – a partnership limited by shares – is no longer an exception in the landscape of listed companies. At times, Dax companies Fresenius, Fresenius Medical Care, Merck and Henkel all took on this legal form. With the KGaA, however, the rights of outside shareholders are significantly limited in order to grant the previous sole owner significant influence. Investors nevertheless bought Schott Pharma shares.

The issue price for the IPO was set at 27 euros on 27 September 2023– after a range of 24.50 to 28.50 euros was announced. A total of 34,641,362 ordinary bearer shares with no par value from the holdings of Schott Glaswerke Beteiligungs- und Export GmbH (a wholly owned subsidiary of Schott AG) were placed with investors, including 4,518,438 shares to cover over-allotments. This corresponded to a placement volume of 935 million euros and a free float of 18.1%. Existing shareholder Schott still holds 77% of the share capital since the IPO, and intends to remain the majority shareholder in the long term. Schott Pharma shares, which are listed on the SDax, have reached 40 euros in the meantime and are currently trading at around 32 euros.

BNP Paribas, BofA Securities and Deutsche Bank acted as Joint Global Coordinators for the IPO last autumn. Citigroup and Jefferies were mandated as Joint Bookrunners, and Commerzbank and LBBW as Co-Lead Managers.

The Schott Group intends to use the proceeds from the IPO to further accelerate the implementation of its growth and sustainability strategy and, among other things, to „promote the further growth of the pharmaceutical business’, as Schott CEO Heinricht emphasised in the podcast ‘Nachgefragt“ with the award winners. Funding is also needed for the green transformation. Due to its high energy consumption, the glass industry is considered one of the largest CO2 emitters in the economy, and must make special efforts to become climate-neutral. This will require investments totalling billions. At the same time, however, the IPO will give the subsidiary Schott Pharma more strategic flexibility and access to the capital markets.