By Alexander Hübner and Marleen Kaesebier
(Reuters) -Siemens Healthineers is preparing for the possibility that its biggest shareholder Siemens AG may reduce its stake in the medical technology company to less than 50%, its CFO said on Wednesday.
Those preparations include talking to credit rating agencies, Jochen Schmitz told journalists on a conference call after the company reported fourth-quarter results.
“We are talking to them, we are preparing ourselves,” he said of the rating agencies. “We have to do that because we don’t know what Siemens will decide”.
Siemens is expected to clarify its intentions during an investor day next week.
Schmitz said that the group has had many offers from banks to advise it on potential refinancing options.
“The most important thing is clarity,” chief executive Bernd Montag told journalists in a call after the company’s fourth quarter results.
Siemens currently holds a 71.12% stake in the company according to LSEG data. If it does reduce its stake to less than 50%, it would have the right to reclaim the term loans it had issued to its subsidiary.
Asked whether a name change was possible if Siemens does exit or partially exit the company, Montag said the company would take its time considering such a move.
Shares in the company were down 7% at 1348 GMT after falling as much as 12.7% after its results were published.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Alexander Hübner in Munich and Marleen Kaesebier in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham)
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