When The Platform Group’s founder and CEO Dr. Dominik Benner bought 10,133 shares on 12 June at €1.88 apiece, the move looked like a textbook confidence signal. He put nearly €19,000 of his own money on the line. The market barely flinched. By the close of last week, the stock stood at €1.52 – down 73% from its 52-week high of €5.60 and halved in value over the prior 30 days alone. The relative strength index has plunged to 23.4, deep in oversold territory, but the buyers have yet to step in.
The rout reflects a legal and financial storm that has gathered pace since a report in manager magazin on 12 June triggered a wave of lender escalations. The company has instructed the law firm LHR to seek an emergency injunction to halt further publication, and is preparing a main action suit that could also include damages claims. Behind the scenes, the situation is more alarming. The public prosecutor’s office in Chemnitz is examining a criminal complaint for possible forgery and fraud, after several managing directors of subsidiaries denied having signed joint liability declarations for bank loans. The financial regulator BaFin has also received a tip-off about the documents. Multiple lenders have called in their loans. Landesbank Baden-Württemberg alone is demanding around €6.75 million; together with Sparkasse Essen the total approaches €12 million. In April, a bailiff from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia attempted to collect €1.82 million in alleged tax debts, though the company disputes the liability, arguing it stems from a terminated tax group with a subsidiary.
For The Platform Group, the immediate escape route is the planned acquisition of pharmaceutical wholesaler AEP. The deal is expected to add roughly €1.1 billion in annual revenue and already has cartel approval, but management is still finalising the financing structure of equity and debt. The closing has slipped several times, and the company now targets the end of June. If successful, the combined group would pro forma reach a gross merchandise volume of around three billion euros. If not, the growth narrative loses its centrepiece. The full-year forecast – €1.7 billion in gross merchandise volume, €1.0 billion in revenue, and adjusted EBITDA between €70 million and €80 million – depends on that deal closing. The more ambitious revenue target of €2.0 billion is explicitly tied to AEP.
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In a bizarre contrast, the operating business has never looked stronger. In the first quarter, revenue surged 51% to €243 million and adjusted EBITDA rose from €15.9 million to €21.8 million. Some 71% of that growth came organically – an unusual feat for a company built on acquisitions. The group maintains over 48 bank relationships in Germany and abroad, and says the number has recently increased, not decreased. Yet none of this is registering with equity investors. The annualised volatility has hit 137%, underscoring the panic in the market.
The climax is fast approaching. On 1 July, shareholders will gather in Düsseldorf for the annual general meeting. Benner plans to present the “Vision 2030” strategy and explain the new “Pharma & Service Goods” segment. But with the stock trading just above its 52-week low of €1.27, a criminal probe underway, and the AEP financing still unsecured, the meeting risks becoming a crisis session. The registration deadline is 24 June. By then, investors will want to know whether Benner’s legal offensive can stop the collateral damage – or whether the insider buy was simply a small bet against a very heavy tide.
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