Ottobock Holding, Duderstadt, Germany, announced that it will place a 20 percent pre-initial public offering (IPO) stake in Ottobock HealthCare. J.P. Morgan has been selected to handle the transaction, which is to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2017, and is in conversation with private equity firms, large family businesses, and technology funds.
Ottobock HealthCare is currently valued at around €3 billion.
“This strategic move enables us to execute even quicker profitable growth and groundbreaking innovations for the people suffering a handicap. To achieve these bionic human dreams is our passion as a family company [for] almost a hundred years,” said Hans Georg Näder, president and CEO of Ottobock.
The intent for Ottobock HealthCare to file an IPO-limited to 25 percent of the shares-and have the company listed on the Frankfurt, Germany, stock exchange was first announced in July 2015. Then, in October 2016, Näder announced that Ottobock Holding was investigating selling a stake of up to €240 million in its plastics group, Ottobock Kunststoff, to focus on the company’s medical technology sector.
