DER AKTIONÄR publisher Bernd Förtsch calls for transparency in BioNTech founders’ spin-off - legal action under review
Kulmbach, Germany (ots)
Bernd Förtsch, founder and CEO of Börsenmedien AG, has submitted an extensive catalogue of questions to BioNTech. At the centre of the matter is the spin-off of significant assets to a new company owned by departing founders Dr Ugur Sahin and Dr Özlem Türeci, announced on March 10th 2026.
The planned spin-off comes against the backdrop of a persistently negative development:
· Revenue decline from €7.3 billion in 2022 to an estimated €2.0 to €2.3 billion in the current year
· Plant closures in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Singapore
· Reduction of up to 1,860 jobs
· An aggressive expansion strategy that has partly failed
· A disastrous share price performance since January 2021
“To me, BioNTech is a restructuring case for which the current Management Board is responsible,” Förtsch said. “The way in which a new company is now being established and a transfer of know-how and personnel is being initiated raises serious governance questions in my view.”
Bernd Förtsch has made several demands of the Supervisory Board of BioNTech SE:
· Commissioning of an independent fairness opinion by an investment bank not affiliated with BioNTech before any final agreement is signed
· Full disclosure of the valuation methodology and comparison with market benchmarks
· Confirmation or establishment of an independent special committee within the Supervisory Board
The publisher announced that he would examine all legal options to protect minority shareholders. “Without a professional, independent fairness opinion, any price for the assets to be transferred is arbitrary,” Förtsch said.
BioNTech has since responded, but has not provided detailed answers to the questions. The catalogue of questions sent to BioNTech, together with an assessment of the situation, will be published in the upcoming issues of DER AKTIONÄR, Börse Online and €uro am Sonntag, respectively.
About Börsenmedien AG
Börsenmedien AG is one of the leading media companies specialising in financial information in the German-speaking world and brings together numerous successful brands under one roof.These include the stock market magazines DER AKTIONÄR, BÖRSE ONLINE, €uro and €uro am Sonntag, as well as numerous stock market services and the PLASSEN publishing house.
As an owner-managed group of companies, Börsenmedien AG can now look back on over 30 years of history and, with more than 100 financial editors and over 250 employees at its offices in Kulmbach, Munich and Frankfurt, represents Germany’s largest range of publications for private investors.
In the digital world, too, the media group ranks among the most popular sources of financial information with DER AKTIONÄR.TV, deraktionaer.de, finanztreff.de and boerse-online.de.
Contact:
Quadriga Communication GmbH
Kent Gaertner
gaertner@quadriga-communication.de
+49 30-30308089-13
Original-Content von: Börsenmedien AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell