Germany's Ottobock to wait until September to list amid choppy markets - sources

Chronoscale

18/02/2022 15:20

By Emma-Victoria Farr and Alexander Hübner
    Feb 18 (Reuters) - German artificial limb maker Ottobock is
waiting until September to launch its multibillion-euro stock
market listing because of choppy financial markets, four people
with knowledge of the matter said.
    Many investors had expected the business, which could be
valued at more than 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion), to float in
the first six months of the year, after it engaged banks to
prepare last summer.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OK4SD
    Now Ottobock has decided to bide its time ahead of a listing
in Frankfurt, the people said. 
    The company told Reuters on Friday that while it continued
to prepare for a stock market listing, no final decision to do
one had been taken.
    "We always said that we want to be ready for the capital
market from 2022," said a company spokesperson. "The
preparations for this are ongoing. Whether and when we will go
public has still not been decided." 
    European stock markets have seesawed in recent weeks as
investors took fright over a potential conflict between Russia
and Ukraine, as well as at the prospect of rising borrowing
costs and spiralling price inflation.
    A steady stream of stock-market listings had been expected
in March, traditionally a busy month, but bankers have said some
companies are postponing plans until later, amid growing
investor uncertainty.
    Ottobock, founded in 1919 as a maker of prosthesis for World
War One veterans, is 80% owned by the founding Naeder family and
20% by buyout fund EQT  EQTAB.ST .
    Ottobock is branching beyond medtech into industry and
recently won its first industrial customer for its exoskeleton
products. 
    Listed peers include Ossur  OSSR.CO , Hanger  HNGR.N 
Invacare  IVC.N  and Ekso Bionics  EKSO.O .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OK4SD
    The company makes prosthetics, orthotics, wheelchairs and
exoskeletons and in 2019 posted core earnings of 191 million
euros on sales of 1 billion euros.
    While Ottobock has been considering an initial public
offering (IPO) for years, EQT's stake purchase in 2017 at a
valuation of 3.15 billion euros delayed earlier plans. EQT
declined to comment.
    Since the buyout group's investment, Ottobock named former
Fresenius  FREG.DE  manager Philip Schulte-Noelle as chief
executive.
    The wait until later this year will enable Ottobock to show
investors a longer track-record of earnings, the people said.
    Ottobock hired Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas
to work on IPO plans in August last year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2PA6Y3
    ($1 = 0.8807 euros)

 (Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr and Alexander Huebner;
additiongl reporting by Lucy Raitano in London
Editing by John O'Donnell and Mark Potter)
 ((emma-victoria.farr@thomsonreuters.com;))