Grifols (GRF) informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) yesterday that on 7 July the Board of Directors of GRF, at an extraordinary meeting, received a request from GRF’s family shareholders and Brookfield Capital Partners (UK) Limited to allow access to certain company information in order to carry out a due diligence process in relation to a possible acquisition of GRF shares. The Board was informed that the purpose of the transaction would be the delisting of the Company, should it finally go ahead.
According to the information provided to the Board, Brookfield and the Family Shareholders have reached an agreement to evaluate a possible joint takeover bid for the entire share capital of GRF.
GRF is as of today’s date unaware of whether or not such a transaction will take place and is completely unaware of the terms on which, if at all, such a transaction might take place. In a subsequent Significant Event, Brookfield confirms that it has held exploratory discussions with certain major shareholders of GRF in relation to a potential joint offer for the GRF shares for delisting from the Spanish Stock Exchanges and NASDAQ.
Brookfield and various companies that hold the interests of the reference shareholders (i.e., Scranton Enterprises B.V., Deria S.L., Ponder Trade S.L. and Ralledor Holding Spain, S.L.) have entered into an exclusivity agreement to continue evaluating the potential transaction.
On 7 July, the reference shareholders and Brookfield requested access to certain information from the company’s Board of Directors in order to carry out, as usual, a due diligence exercise. At this stage, there is no agreement or decision on the potential transaction or on its possible terms or conditions. Nor is there any assurance that Brookfield or the Reference Shareholders will make an offer for GRF shares.
On the news, Grifols shares rose by more than 9% on the stock market (they have fallen by 40% since the opportunistic fund Gotham denounced the accounting artifices that allowed the company’s debt to be reduced.
