Bavarian Nordic’s board of directors has urged shareholders to accept a sweetened takeover offer as the potential sale of the company continues to stall.
A consortium led by Nordic Capital and Permira came back to Bavarian Nordic shareholders with an offer of DKr250 ($39) per share on, increasing its initial bid that failed to win sufficient support from investors in August 2025. At the time, the prospective buyers had offered DKr233 per share for the Danish vaccine specialist.
Shares in Bavarian Nordic opened 4% up at DKr240.20 on 16 October compared to a prior market close of DKr230.50. The company has a market cap of Dkr18.5bn.
However, shareholders representing only about 25.7% of the company’s share capital have so far accepted the offer, according to a statement by Bavarian Nordic. This is below the 75% threshold that the consortium is asking, revised down from 90% earlier this year.
ATP, which is Denmark’s biggest pension fund, holds more than 10% of Bavarian. It said it will maintain its position on not tendering its shares despite the revised offer.
“We have noted that the takeover offer has been raised, but our position remains unchanged. ATP still wishes to be a long-term shareholder in Bavarian Nordic,” Claus Møller Berner, deputy director of Danish Equities at ATP, told Pharmaceutical Technology in an emailed statement.
Given that ATP is the largest shareholder in the company, its position could influence fellow shareholders. However, several institutional shareholders representing 5.3% of share capital have already moved to accept the offer, meaning appetite for a sale – that would take the company private – still exists.
Innosera, a newly formed entity controlled by the consortium, has informed Bavarian that the DKr250 takeover value “is its best and final offer price and will not be increased”.
Bavarian’s board has been keen to advance the sale over the line, urging shareholders to accept the offer.
"Following the extension of the offer period and the increased offer price, the board of directors maintains its recommendation to shareholders to accept the offer. Based on our view of the company's fundamental value and in light of the share price level over a longer period prior to the consortium's takeover bid being made public, we continue to find the offer fair and attractive,” commented Luc Debruyne, board chair at Bavarian Nordic.
Bavarian Nordic is known for its travel health and public preparedness vaccines. The company posted total revenue for H1 2025 of DKr3bn, reflecting a 33% increase compared to the same period last year.
A busy 2025 of commercial wins for Bavarian Nordic was spearheaded by approval for its chikungunya vaccine Vimkunya in the US, Europe, and the UK. There was also the $160m sale of a priority review voucher, which bolstered cash reserves, in June 2025.
