German medical glass and pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer Gerresheimer AG announced a pricing range for its forthcoming initial public offering (IPO) that would value its stock at between EUR 1.16 billion and EUR 1.41 billion (USD 1.56 billion and USD 1.90 billion). Bookbuilding for the IPO starts on 29 May 2007 and the date of the float is set for 11 June 2007. A flotation will provide a partial exit for private equity owner Blackstone Group LLP, which acquired the company from Bahrain private equity investor Investcorp Bank BSC for about EUR 500 million in late 2004. It will be Gerresheimer's second attempt at an IPO: after Investcorp dropped an earlier attempt because of difficult market conditions, it brought in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to lead an auction of the company. Gerresheimer, formerly Gerresheimer Glas AG, makes medicine bottles from glass and plastic as well as complex drug delivery systems. It employs 9,000 people at 31 locations in Europe, Asia and North America and generated pro-forma Ebitda of EUR 151 million on sales of around EUR 893 million in 2006. The total includes sales of around EUR 247 million from a former rival, pharmaceutical packaging company Wilden AG, which Gerresheimer bought for EUR 1 billion in 2006.
