(Bloomberg) -- The owners of Falck A/S are considering options for their stakes in a possible deal that could value the Danish ambulance and firefighting services company at €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) or more, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Falck shareholders, which include the Lundbeck Foundation and investment firm Kirkbi, have been holding discussions with potential advisers about options including a sale of their holdings or an initial public offering, the people said.
Lundbeck Foundation is Falck’s controlling shareholder with a 58% stake. Kirkbi, the investment firm of the Kirk Kristiansen family that controls the Lego toymaker, owns 28%. Tryghedsgruppen, the majority owner of Tryg Insurance and TrygFonden, has about 14%.
Deliberations are at an early stage and the owners could decide to hold onto the asset for longer, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Representatives for Falck, Lundbeck Foundation and Kirkbi declined to comment.
Falck operates more than 3,000 ambulances and medical vehicles in 11 countries globally, providing 600,000 services each month, according to its website. It also provides fire-fighting and rescuing services. The Danish company went public on the Copenhagen stock exchange in 1995 and was delisted in 2005 after private equity firm Nordic Capital and Danish pension fund ATP bought it out. Lundbeck Foundation and Kirkbi led a deal to acquire Nordic Capital’s stake in Falck in 2011 and became major shareholders.
During Covid, Falck was selected as one of the three private providers for rapid testing, generating about 3.5 billion Danish kroner ($501 million) of revenue in 2021. In the following year, Falck picked former DFDS A/S Chief Executive Officer Niels Smedegaard as chairman of the board to help execute its so-called 2025 strategy, which includes a possible IPO.
However, the company has been struggling to improve earnings in its core business. Chief Executive Officer Jakob Riis said in an interview with Danish business daily Borsen last year that “there have been headwinds” and that growth needed to improve to pursue an IPO. The company reported revenue of about 9 billion Danish kroner for the first three quarters this year, a 2.8% increase from the same period a year ago.
--With assistance from Sara Sjolin.
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