According to people familiar with the matter, private equity manager Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is emerging as the frontrunner to acquire Stada Arzneimittel, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.The sources suggest that Bain Capital and Cinven, the German generic drugmaker's private equity owners, aim to secure a valuation of around €11 billion ($11.8 billion) or more in a full sale of the business, although it remains unclear whether they will succeed. They are expected to receive bids from potential buyers this week. Aside from CD&R, sources mentioned that KKR & Co. and CVC Capital Partners have also shown interest in Stada, according to the Bloomberg report.Bain and Cinven, which took over Stada in 2017 in a deal worth €5.3 billion ($5.7 billion), are reportedly considering a potential stock market listing of Stada should bids not meet their valuation expectations. The buyout firms have been exploring a possible minority stake sale as well.A report last August said that Bain and Cinven were weighing alternatives including an outright sale that could value Stada at over €10 billion ($10.7 billion), or an IPO. At the time, Stada CEO Peter Goldschmidt confirmed the owners were in an "orientation phase" of exploring options, but downplayed any pressure for an imminent deal.This past April, sources said that Stada's management had kicked off talks with potential buyers including private equity firms like CD&R, CVC and KKR as well as pension funds and other entities. The sale target was said to be around €8 billion ($8.6 billion).