Subject category:
Finance, Accounting and Control
Published by:
INSEAD
Version: 09.2015
Length: 12 pages
Data source: Published sources
Abstract
The Lundbeck case study describes the initial public offering (IPO) that the company made in the Summer of 1999. The focus of the case is valuation, but a number of other issues arise for discussion: (1) the company's strategy in deciding to make the IPO; (2) what the considerations were for the management and shareholder in agreeing on the issuing price and timing; and (3) the number of shares to be sold, where they would be sold, and how the after-market should be developed and maintained. Lundbeck is a medium-sized pharmaceutical company based in Denmark. It is specialised in the research and development, manufacture, marketing and sale of drugs for the treatment of psychological and neurological diseases and disorders. Group sales for 1998 were DKK3.2 billion of which its principal product, Citalopram, accounted for DKK2.1 billion or two-thirds of the total. The company has production facilities in Denmark and the UK. Most R&D is carried out by the company itself, or through licensing, and from strategic alliances with others having expertise in a specific area. Some 475 scientists and technicians are employed in R&D out of a total 2,286 full-time employees in the company. Until the IPO, the Lundbeck Foundation was the sole shareholder. The IPO would put about 20% of the shares on the market in a so-called Global Offering. A listing of the shares would be made on the Copenhagen stock market.
About
Abstract
The Lundbeck case study describes the initial public offering (IPO) that the company made in the Summer of 1999. The focus of the case is valuation, but a number of other issues arise for discussion: (1) the company's strategy in deciding to make the IPO; (2) what the considerations were for the management and shareholder in agreeing on the issuing price and timing; and (3) the number of shares to be sold, where they would be sold, and how the after-market should be developed and maintained. Lundbeck is a medium-sized pharmaceutical company based in Denmark. It is specialised in the research and development, manufacture, marketing and sale of drugs for the treatment of psychological and neurological diseases and disorders. Group sales for 1998 were DKK3.2 billion of which its principal product, Citalopram, accounted for DKK2.1 billion or two-thirds of the total. The company has production facilities in Denmark and the UK. Most R&D is carried out by the company itself, or through licensing, and from strategic alliances with others having expertise in a specific area. Some 475 scientists and technicians are employed in R&D out of a total 2,286 full-time employees in the company. Until the IPO, the Lundbeck Foundation was the sole shareholder. The IPO would put about 20% of the shares on the market in a so-called Global Offering. A listing of the shares would be made on the Copenhagen stock market.