Sources: Manager Magazin 31 October 2022, Niedersächische Wirtschaft 19 May 2022, Immobilien Zeitung 30 March 2023
The year 2022 should not be an easy one for Hans Georg Näder’s company. Ottobock’s IPO failed again. In retrospect, the story seems like a detective story, but with a bad ending. Three of the most important management positions had to be filled after Hans Georg Näder unleashed a wave of arbitrary dismissals. At the same time, Ottobock’s failed IPOs seem to run like a red thread through the company’s history. According to several news magazines, this IPO could have been the largest in Europe.
Bid to Sweden
Näder made the first announcements about going public in 2017. To prepare for the IPO, Näder strengthened the team with Swedish financial investor EQT. Marcus Brennecke represented the reliable German partner in this process. The venture capitalist held 20 percent of the company. EQT was not the only company interested in Ottobock’s shares. Among the best known are KKR and Blackstone, some of which offered even more money. However, the Swedes won the bid. A possible reason for the award to Marcus Brennecke could be his connection to sailing. Both Näder and Brennecke are well-known names in the sailing scene. While they share the same hobby, they are completely different in other respects. While Brennecke prefers to stay under the media’s radar and sail on a “calm wave,” Näder leads a self-promoting existence. He is the owner of two luxury sailing yachts, the “Pink Gin” and “Pink Gin VI.” The latter holds a world record for the longest carbon-made sailing ship in the world. The boat gets its name from the huge pink sail, which stretches to a height of 55 meters. Furthermore, there are oak parquet floors and gilded furniture in the interior. The cost is about 60 million euros.
Preparations were already underway
Philipp Schulte-Noelle was another important figure in the “IPO 2022” project. The family name is not unknown to the financial world. He is the son of long-time Allianz CEO Henning Schulte-Noelle. Like his father, he was able to shine with his comprehensive knowledge and outstanding expertise, making him a good choice for the position of CEO.
Kathrin Dahnke was also part of the team that was to prepare Otto Bock for the upcoming IPO. She assumed the position of CFO and was thus responsible for the financial part of the company. Dahnke was no stranger to the company: She had already occupied an executive position from 1995 to 2005 and helped strengthen the company. In the years that followed, Dahnke was able to further expand her expertise as CFO. She accompanied other well-known companies such as Knorr-Bremse as a member of the supervisory board during their IPO, and was successfully involved in family-owned companies such as Werhahn or Osram, which was already listed on the stock exchange.
In addition, there was already agreement on who should accompany the IPO. At this point, Deutsche Bank, the US money house Goldman Sachs and the French BNP Paribas should be mentioned. Information from the Handelsblatt indicates that Näder engaged these banks as global coordinators. It would have been an attractive deal. Experts calculated a valuation of about six billion euros. In addition, the industry in which Ottobock is active is said to be particularly interesting. As a rising technology group in the healthcare industry, potentially big profits lie ahead.
The fact that the company’s stock market plans have tightened up is also reflected in the fact that the annual financial statements for fiscal year 2021 have been prepared in accordance with the international IFRS accounting method. This is to be understood as a prerequisite for going public. Companies listed on the capital market would have to comply with different standards than unlisted companies.
Short notice and cancellation
But how can it be explained that private investors cannot put the company’s securities in their own custody accounts? Is Hans Georg Näder responsible for the failed IPO?
Hans Georg Näder and his daughters hold over 80 percent of the shares and thus have the greatest voting rights. Selling the shares would have the effect of shrinking the power that Hans Georg Näder holds. However, as is known from the past, Näder is someone who does not like to give up the helm. However, he would never communicate this publicly himself.
“Due to the current geopolitical situation and the capital market environment influenced by it, however, an IPO is not desirable for us for the time being,” says the man from Duderstadt. The turbulence in the world had ensured that the markets have had to deal with a sharp downward correction. At that time, the share price of other medical technology companies had fallen sharply. For this reason, the valuation at the IPO for Ottobock would also have been significantly lower than recently assumed. Even a few percentage points would make a difference of several hundred millions in this size range. For these reasons, Näder canceled the IPO without further ado.
In any case, this week was not a good one. Three of the most important management positions were dismissed at short notice. The CTO Andreas Goppelt was dismissed as well. Other people to suffer included the aforementioned Kathrin Dahnke and Philipp Schulte-Noelle. What is particularly surprising is that Dahnke’s tenure lasted only nine months. She most likely would not have expected such a short stay and ingratitude of this kind before taking office.
Porsche in the fast lane
Porsche AG shows what a successful IPO looks like. With a valuation of around 75 billion euros, the carmaker brought the parent company Volkswagen around nine billion euros in the IPO. This event is likely to go down in German stock history. Indeed, it is the largest German IPO since Telekom in 1996.
No fresh capital for Näder
The intended goal of raising fresh money through the capital market has thus been put on hold. However, a cash injection would have done the company good. As can be seen from the annual reports, the equity ratio, which is an important indicator of a company’s own financing power, has been shrinking for years. The reason for this is that Näder repeatedly dipped into the company’s coffers and thus took a total of half a billion euros from the company over the last ten years, weakening it enormously.
A large part of the sum went into financing his own project, the Bötzow Brewery in Berlin. According to media reports, the investment sum is around 250 million euros. An urban neighborhood is to be created in Prenzlauer Berg, which will include startups, cafés, restaurants and apartments. Furthermore, the 61-year-old runs his own art gallery in his hometown Duderstadt.