Grifols defends advisor Thomas Dagi against Mason Capital offensive | Companies

It will not be a quiet week for Grifols, which this Tuesday had to come out to support its director Thomas Dagu in the face of the Mason Capital fund’s plan to renew the board of directors of the blood products company, a campaign that includes the departure of this member of the governing body of the Catalan firm after Brookfield’s departure.

In particular, as they noted Europe Press According to company sources, Daga has been “strongly instrumental in growing Grifols into the global company it is today, with expected sales of €7 billion in 2024.” In addition, it “fully” supported the company’s initiatives, which “contributed to strengthening its corporate governance,” the same sources emphasized. Shares responded today with gains of more than 2% to around €8.5, two € less than the €10.5 offered by Brookfield.

Grifols has lost about 45% in the stock market since the beginning of the year due to the punishment caused by the allegations of the aforementioned Gotham City Research. Since the withdrawal of Brookfield’s takeover bid was confirmed last Wednesday, shares have fallen more than 20%.

The company, which has always defended its “solid fundamentals”, boasted results for the first nine months of the year, a period during which it increased revenues by 9.1% (up 8.6%), reaching 5.237 million euros on higher earnings. The power of Biopharma. The pharmaceutical company accelerated its improvement in the third quarter, when total revenue reached 1.793 million euros, up 12.4% year-on-year (12.2% reported), beating analysts’ forecasts.

Daga, the current director of the Catalan company in the category of other external member, joined the board of directors of Grifols in 2000, after which the shareholders of the Catalan company constantly re-elected him as a member of the board. shareholders at general meetings.

In this context, marked by the withdrawal of a potential Brookfield offer, Mason Capital recently requested in a letter to Grifols that Paul Herendeen be added to its board of directors as an independent director to be appointed by the minority shareholder group formed by Flat Footed. , Mason Capital and Sachem Head Capital Management, which own a joint stake representing 7.72% of the shares of the Catalan firm “A”.

This request by Mason Capital, specifically the owner of 2.1% of Grifols’ A-shares, occurred prior to the decision of Brookfield Asset Management’s UK subsidiary, Brookfield Capital Partners, not to pursue a public takeover bid for Grifols. which also closed the potential business.

There are currently two vacancies on the board of directors of Grifols and, according to market sources, the Catalan company is working to fill them, for which it has hired the company to find a profile that suits them.

Mason Capital founding partner Kenneth M. Garshchina said in an interview with the publication BloombergNews that “he wants the board of directors of Grifols to be replaced”, referring to “an old director and an old friend of the founding family” Daga, whom he accused of “a conflict of interest and of acting on the board of directors as a representative of the family, the owner of a third company.”

Garschina, who is currently awaiting a decision on the appointment of Paul Herendeen as an independent director, hopes that the Grifols board will call an extraordinary meeting of shareholders “in the near future.”

In this context, Grifols “will take the request into account as long as the number of independent board members is maintained,” according to market sources.

He also indicated that Mason Capital was in “negotiations” with other shareholders to also demand positions or help them “otherwise” renew the board of directors, while also stating that he would pressure Grifols to reveal the amount of fees that Daga , who joined the board of directors of the administration in 2000, he received for advising a Catalan firm on legal issues.

“I encourage any institutional investor to call me to defend the actions of this board and Daga and say that they will vote for them at the next general meeting,” Garshchina concluded.