Added to YB: 2026-08-27
Pitch date: 2026-08-18
AFX.DE [neutral]
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG
+0.26%
current return
Author Info
DB_Silver_Fox is a CFO and value investor interested in: European & US hidden champions, simple and effective business models, and US Banks. Sign up for the newsletter.
Company Info
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG operates as a medical technology company in Germany, rest of Europe, North America, and Asia.
Market Cap
EUR 2.8B
Pitch Price
EUR 31.20
Price Target
N/A
Dividend
1.70%
EV/EBITDA
13.94
P/E
23.16
EV/Sales
1.56
Sector
Health Care Equipment and Supplies
Category
special_situation
DB_Silver_Fox | Portfolio update as of 11.08.2026 - Carl Zeiss Meditec AG
AFX.DE (update): Holding despite ~80% peak-to-trough share decline because author regards the foundation-owned governance and moat as high-caliber; DORC (Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center) bought April 2024, 100% from Eurazeo for ~€985m (~5x €200m revenue, ~20x EBIT on 'mid double-digit' ~€50m operating profit), financed mainly by parent cash-pool draw (other receivables lent to parent fell from €953.5m FY2021 to €170.9m FY2025) plus new debt; author calls it strategic fit — DORC adds per-operation consumables Zeiss lacked as equipment sales collapsed — but a full private-equity-exit price; since close, group operating margin fell to ~8.9% (author attributes to Chinese volume-based procurement extracting surplus), operating cash flow declined to €209.9m from €247.3m, dividend cut 47% to €52.5m; over 5Y, ~90% of cumulative CFO (€1.1bn) spent on acquisitions, part-funded by €587m from foundation parent pool.
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