Sirona falls as firm mulls sale of equity stake

According to a shelf registration filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sirona Holdings Luxco S.C.A. could sell its entire holding, or nearly 37 million shares. That is 67.5 percent of all available shares of Sirona, which makes digital X-ray systems for dentists.

Sirona Holdings is made up of Madison Dearborn Partners and Beecken Petty O'Keefe, along with members of Sirona's management, including Chief Executive Jost Fischer and Chief Financial Officer Simone Blank. The firm bought a controlling interest in the company in June 2005.

Shares of the Long Island City, N.Y., company fell $2.64, or 9.3 percent, to $25.85 Wednesday.

In a telephone interview, Robert W. Baird analyst Jeff Johnson said the possible sale may not reflect any issues Sirona is facing, as the private equity firm could be looking to gain more free cash. But for now, Sirona Holdings' plans are unclear--and a public offering of the firm's stake could significantly increase the available amount of stock.

"Supply and demand suggests at least in the near term, investors are fearing there could be an excessive supply of stock," he said.