Activist investor wants review at Gerresheimer after taking stake

MUNICH (Reuters) -Active Ownership, a major shareholder in Gerresheimer, said on Thursday it saw major potential for value creation at the German packaging and medical equipment specialist and called for a strategic review, a second activist investor to do so.

"Active Ownership expressly welcomes the planned sale process for the moulded glass division and calls for a swift settlement in order to strengthen Gerresheimer's cash flow and reduce debt," Active Ownership said in a statement to Reuters.

Gerresheimer, which had been undertaking a "strategic review" of the unit since 2024, announced plans to sell the moulded glass business earlier in August.

It has been engaged in "constructive dialogue" with Active Ownership, as well as its other investors, for several months now, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

Active Ownership said that further key measures should include additional portfolio optimization and the implementation of an efficiency programme, particularly through cost reductions in administration and business units.

That would improve the return on Gerresheimer's sales by five percentage points, the activist investor said, while also calling for the creation of a strategy committee to review all of the company's ongoing projects.

Gerresheimer's shares were up 2.6% as of 0904 GMT, after a regulatory release on Wednesday evening showed Active Ownership's stake at 5.31%, plus access to a further 1.88% via put and call options.

This makes Active Ownership its second largest shareholder behind the asset management division of U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, which owns 8.9% according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

London-based investment fund Asset Value Investors, which holds a 3.5% stake in Gerresheimer, in June pressed the medical packaging maker to find ways to restore its market value.

Including Thursday's gains, Gerresheimer's shares have fallen 36% so far this year.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, writing by Rachel More, Linda Pasquini and Tristan Veyet; editing by Matthias Williams and Milla Nissi-Prussak)