Stada Braces For Battle With Activist Investors

Stada Arzneimittel AG says it is acting in the interests of its broader ownership base as it prepares for its annual general meeting of shareholders, postponed to August 26 from June 9 following an attempt by activist investor Active Ownership Capital to push through change in the supervisory board. AOC, which holds a stake of around 5% in the German generics and OTC company, claims it has the support of around investors holding around 20% of the company’s shares, and wants to have greater say in the selection process for candidates. It argues that Stada is breaching a written agreement to put forward for election a slate of jointly approved supervisory board candidates, and says it no longer has faith in the current management’s ability to conduct the selection process “in a transparent, due and proper manner that serves the best interests of the company, its shareholders, and employees.”

Stada, whose long-standing CEO Hartmut Retzlaff took leave of absence for health reasons on June 5, says it will issue...