The pharmaceutical division of the Mainz-based glass manufacturer Schott has successfully entered the stock market. However, the vast majority of the shares remain with the mother.
The pharmaceutical division of the Mainz-based specialty glass manufacturer Schott is now a listed company. Shares in Schott Pharma were traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the first time on Thursday. The first price was given at 9:17 a.m. in Frankfurt as 30.00 euros per piece, after which company boss Andreas Reisse and CFO Almuth Steinkuhler rang the stock exchange bell.
Reisse spoke of a new chapter in the history of the division, which was spun off in 2022 and produces glass tubes, vials and syringes for pharmaceuticals and benefits from the rapidly growing business with injectable drugs.
The issue price for Schott Pharma’s shares was set at 27.00 euros per share, which was at the upper end of the price range for the approximately 34.6 million shares offered, which was 24.50 to 28.50 euros. The total placement volume amounts to 935 million euros.
Greater business flexibility and visibility
“It is the right time for us, the market is stable and we have received very positive feedback from investors,” said CFO Steinkuehler to the German Press Agency. Going public brings greater entrepreneurial flexibility – “and visibility – in the market, but also among employees. And it gives us access to the capital market. With such a price increase, it’s a great start for us.”
In the 2022 financial year, Schott Pharma achieved sales of 821 million euros. In the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, revenue increased by 8.4 percent to 670 million euros compared to the same period last year.
In addition to its headquarters in Mainz, the company has an important production site in Müllheim, Baden. According to the company, Schott Pharma operates a total of 16 production sites in 14 countries. The mother Schott is 100 percent owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, based in Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg and Jena in Thuringia.
Glaswerke Beteiligungs- und Export GmbH remains the majority owner
Schott Pharma had announced its IPO some time ago, but postponed it to 2022 due to the war in Ukraine, inflation and key interest rate increases. The company consciously decided to go public in Frankfurt, taking a different path than the vaccine manufacturer Biontech, which is also based in Mainz and is listed in the USA. The sandal manufacturer Birkenstock, which comes from Linz am Rhein in Rhineland-Palatinate, will also go public on the other side of the Atlantic.
The previous sole shareholder, the Schott subsidiary Glaswerke Beteiligungs- und Export GmbH, will remain the majority owner of Schott Pharma with at least 77 percent of the share capital. Schott Pharma was able to attract Qatar Holding as an anchor investor, which acquired shares worth 200 million euros and thus holds 4.9 percent.
Heiko Leopold from Deutsche Bank saw “extremely high interest” from institutional and private investors in the largest German IPO so far this year. He also referred to numerous investments by German funds. Investors are particularly convinced by the focus on products and solutions for injectable drugs, said Leopold. Their growth prospects are higher than for the pharmaceutical market as a whole.
CFO Steinkuehler said that, especially at the beginning, we would look at the development of the share price every day. “But what’s important for us is the big trend.”
Source: Stern
