The pharmaceutical group Grifols has announced today to the CNMV that it is preparing the sale of a stake in its Chinese subsidiary Shanghai RAAS for 1,500 million dollars, around 1,390 million euros at current exchange rates. The sale is part of the divestment process announced by the company with the aim of reducing its indebtedness, and has been well received by the markets, with the share rising by more than 8%, to more than 12 euros.
According to the communication sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), “Grifols, as Shanghai RAAS’s largest shareholder, has notified the latter that it is planning important changes that will imply changes in the shareholder structure.”
The group chaired by Thomas H. Glanzmann added that “assuming the transaction is successful, Grifols will receive the amount of 1,500 million dollars and will continue to be a significant shareholder.” The company, which is holding its board meeting this Friday shareholders, recognized that “as of today, the possible corporate operation is in the planning phase and there are still uncertainties surrounding it”.
Grifols acquired 26.2% of the Chinese Shanghai RAAS in 2019, in an operation valued at around 1,700 million euros that it faced with an exchange of shares of a United States investee. The sale of the Chinese stake is one of the possibilities considered by experts in the sector, but the high price and the fact that Grifols remains a shareholder, which will continue to provide business synergies, have surprised analysts, which has caused the share to rise.
The sale of a stake in Shanghai RAAS allows Grifols to advance in its debt reduction strategy, which amounts to 9,000 million euros after the investment that involved the purchase of its German competitor Biotest, for 1,453 million euros. The company announced that it plans to carry out asset sales for some 2,000 million euros, to place the debt at 4 times the operating profit or EBITDA next year, compared to 8.6 times that closed last year, since the group has suffered a worsening of its results in recent years, due to the drop in plasma donations caused by the covid, and its increase in cost.
Grifols closed the first quarter of the year with losses of 108 million euros, due to the costs of the cost-cutting plan. Without its impact, the benefit would have been 25.7 million euros. In the period, the blood products group entered 1,561 million euros, with an increase of 23.2%, while the gross operating result or ebitda grew by 19%, up to 298 million.
