Grifols facilities in Parets del Valles, Spain, on Jan. 9.Albert Gea/Reuters
Three investment funds with holdings in Spanish drugmaker Grifols have teamed up to ask to fill a vacant seat on the company’s board, they said in a statement late on Thursday.
Flat Footed LLC, along with Mason Capital Management LLC and Sachem Head Capital Management LP, which hold a combined 7.72 per cent stake in Grifols, picked Paul Herendeen, a former senior executive at other large pharmaceutical companies, to be their representative on the company’s board, the statement said.
They said Grifols, which produces plasma-based medicines, had “an attractive growth profile” and its shares were undervalued and they wanted to make sure any takeover offer would include “a price that is fair for all shareholders”.
Grifols lost a third of its market value in January when short-seller fund Gotham City Research started releasing several reports accusing Grifols of overstating earnings and understating debt. Following the reports Grifols announced governance changes and revised its reported leverage higher.
The Grifols family, which holds a stake of around 30 per cent in the company, and Canadian fund Brookfield agreed in July to evaluate a possible joint takeover bid for Grifols shares with the intent to delist it.
Grifols earlier this month said the founding family and Brookfield were in the process of due diligence and had not made any decision on an offer yet.