Gerresheimer's Perfect Storm: Delisting, Default, and a Desperate Asset Sale

Packaging firm Gerresheimer faces SDAX delisting, a €240M write-down, and a major asset sale amid an accounting scandal and loan default. Survival hinges on 2026 deadline.

The packaging manufacturer Gerresheimer finds itself navigating a multi-front crisis, with its shares plummeting nearly 70% over the past twelve months. The company's immediate survival now hinges on a series of drastic measures and a critical deadline in June 2026.

Index Exclusion and Institutional Flight

As of April 10, 2026, Gerresheimer has been formally removed from the SDAX. The delisting, confirmed by STOXX, was triggered automatically after the company missed a four-month deadline to publish its audited financial statements for 2025. The Bulgarian Shelly Group SE has taken its place in the small-cap index. This loss of visibility is a further blow for a stock already under severe selling pressure, compounding its financial isolation.

A Deepening Accounting Scandal

At the heart of the turmoil is a widening accounting scandal. German financial regulator BaFin is investigating indications of irregularities in interim reports from December 2024 to May 2025. The scope of the probe has expanded beyond initial findings of €35 million in faulty bookings from improper "bill-and-hold" agreements. A second auditing firm, Grant Thornton, is now scrutinizing the books for 2024 and 2025 over suspicions of flawed lease accounting and omitted asset impairments.

The fallout is direct: the audited 2025 annual report is postponed until June 2026. First-quarter 2026 figures and the annual general meeting, originally scheduled for early June, are also indefinitely delayed. The auditor oversight body APAS has simultaneously opened a professional misconduct procedure against KPMG, questioning why it signed off on the 2024 accounts without qualification.

Legal Threats and Massive Write-Downs

The crisis is reaching former executives. Shareholder association DSW is examining damage claims against ex-CEO Dietmar Siemssen and ex-CFO Bernd Metzner. This legal threat follows the company's announcement of potential write-downs totaling up to €240 million. These impairments primarily relate to technology projects from the acquired Sensile Medical business and a glass plant in Chicago slated for closure.

Technical Default and a Fire Sale

The missing audited statements have pushed Gerresheimer into a technical default on its loans. Management is in intense talks with creditors to secure deadline extensions and prevent a termination of its credit lines. To generate urgently needed liquidity, the board has taken radical action. It has mandated Morgan Stanley to sell the US subsidiary Centor Inc., a drug packaging unit still valued at €292 million at the end of 2024. The sale is targeted for completion within the current year.

Parallel cost-cutting measures include shifting production capacity from the US plant in Chicago Heights to facilities in Italy and India. These moves are designed to shore up the company's financial position during this period of extreme uncertainty.

A Glimmer of Interest and a Defining June

Despite the unresolved issues, some institutional investors are seeing value at deeply depressed price levels. Asset managers including Deka Investment and CastleKnight have recently reported new stakes. All strategic and financial threads now converge on June 2026. By then, management must deliver the long-overdue audited 2025 report. This milestone is the essential prerequisite for permanently securing credit lines, validating a revenue forecast of up to €2.4 billion for the current year, and restarting the company's paralyzed financial calendar.