Stada executives quit

FRANKFURT: Stada´s chief executive and its head of finance resigned on Tuesday ahead of an imminent new takeover bid for the German generic drugmaker by buyout groups Bain Capital and Cinven.

Chief Executive Matthias Wiedenfels, who was appointed just over a year ago, will be replaced by Engelbert Tjeenk Willink, a former board member of privately held German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, Stada said in a statement.

Bernhard Duettmann, previously finance chief at Nivea owner Beiersdorf and then chemicals group Lanxess, will succeed Stada´s Chief Financial Officer Helmut Kraft.

Willink and Duettmann have been appointed until the end of 2017, Stada said.  The move came only hours after Stada said that private equity firms Bain and Cinven were considering seeking regulatory clearance to make a new takeover offer for the group after their 5.3 billion euro ($6 billion) bid fell through, driving Stada´s shares higher.