Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on March 17, 2025
By Emma-Victoria Farr and Anirban Sen
FRANKFURT/NEW YORK (Reuters) -A consortium including KKR and Warburg Pincus has submitted a non-binding bid for Gerresheimer AG, which makes pens used to inject weight loss drugs like Wegovy, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The group has submitted a bid at close to 90 euros a share, one of the people said, which would value the company at nearly 3.1 billion euros ($3.37 billion), according to LSEG data, against 2.65 billion euros as of Friday's close.
A takeover is not guaranteed, with a second person adding that any deal is still likely to take several more weeks. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is private.
Spokespeople for KKR and Warburg Pincus declined to comment. Gerresheimer did not respond to requests for comment.
Its shares rose as much as 5.5% after Reuters reported on the bid Monday.
Last month the German medical packaging maker said it was in early-stage discussions with private equity investors over a potential sale of the company.
Gerresheimer said at that time that the interest was informal and on a non-binding basis.
"Such discussions are still in a very preliminary stage. It is not foreseeable at this point in time whether a public takeover offer will actually be made," the company said in a February statement.
The bid interest follows activist investor Ricky Chad Sandler taking a 5.43% stake in Gerresheimer in October 2024.
Last month, Gerresheimer halved its revenue guidance for 2025 on subdued demand in its cosmetics and food and beverage segments.
The company now expects organic revenue growth in the range of 3% to 5% in 2025, down from the previous range of 7% to 10%. It confirmed the guidance for adjusted core profit margin of around 22%.
Bloomberg first reported last week that a consortium of KKR and Warburg Pincus were in talks to acquire Gerresheimer.
(Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr and Anirban Sen. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Jan Harvey)
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