Grifols has obtained an express statement from the company with which it has agreed the sale of its 20% of Shanghai RAAS to guarantee that the operation will be carried out. This is a key move to reassure markets with a view to today's return to trading, given the importance of this transaction in reducing the pharmaceutical company's debt.
In a note sent yesterday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the company explains that, "in view of the concern raised in the markets" about how the recent Gotham City Research report may affect the sale of 20% of Shanghai RAAS, has contacted the buyer, Haier Group Corporation, to verify that the process continues.
The answer has come from the vice president of Haier, who has informed Grifols that the buyer "continues to work to close the agreement as originally proposed". The company hopes to close this operation during the first half of this year, according to the already published calendar.
The plan is to sell 20% of its 26.2% stake in the Chinese company for around $1.8 billion (around €1.6 billion), representing a 14.96% premium over the price medium of quotation of Shanghai RAAS. The announcement of the divestment was made at the end of last year and caused a 9% rise in the Grifols stock market.
The operation was already presented as a key to fulfilling the commitments of Grifols, but the crisis caused last week by the Gotham report, which doubts the financial capacity of the company, has increased its importance.
The funds will be used to reduce the debt according to the schedule announced to the market. The agreement with Haier, sources from the Catalan company point out, is "binding", so that "both parties are contractually bound to fulfill their obligations" as long as the stipulated conditions materialize, including the approval of regulatory authorities.
"If the closing conditions are met and one of the parties refuses to close the transaction, this would constitute a substantial breach of the agreement" and would involve "the corresponding legal claims". There is, in any case, no penalty clause, as is customary in the Chinese market.
Grifols shares lost almost 40% last week and part of the company's efforts have been directed at refuting Gotham's accusations before the market. "Grifols will complete the transaction in China", said its CEO, Thomas Glanzmann, on the questions of analysts in relation to this matter.
The purchases of Novartis' diagnostic business, the entry into China or the acquisition of Germany's Biotest have been the major international operations with which Grifols has managed to acquire a global dimension in recent years, although at the cost of increasing the debt up to 9,540 million euros at the end of the third quarter of last year. The figure is equivalent to 6.7 times gross operating profit (ebitda).
To cut expenses and reduce debt, the company also proposed at the beginning of 2023 an employment file to cut the workforce by 2,200 people in the United States. The company has received an information request from the CNMV to which it must respond within two days.
