The Almirall pharmaceutical group announced today to the CNMV that it will carry out a capital increase worth 200 million euros, of which 59.66% will be contributed by the Gallardo family so as not to dilute its stake in the company. The group announced that it will carry out an accelerated placement, led by JP Morgan and BNP Paribas, which it expects to close tonight “because there is great interest from investors and it is oversubscribed,” according to a spokesperson for the firm.
Almirall assured the National Securities Market Commission that it intends to use the funds to “preserve the financial flexibility and agility necessary to actively seek and rapidly execute inorganic growth opportunities (including complementary acquisitions as well as licensing agreements) that are currently under analysis”.
The company announced at the last shareholders’ meeting that it plans to invest 400 million euros in three years in R&D, and according to a spokesperson “we have preferred to do so without getting into debt”. The firm was raising resources at rates above 5%, although its debt was barely 0.8 times the operating profit or Ebitda, which was 198 million in 2022.
The capital increase partly reverses the equity movement carried out by the Gallardo family in 2007, when the Public Offering for the Sale of shares allowed shareholders to receive more than 500 million euros with the listing of the company on the stock market. The firm was listed at 14 euros per share, valued at 2,300 million euros, and closed yesterday at 8.69 euros, with a total value of 1,580 million euros.
Since then, Almirall has obtained a large injection of funds with the launch of a COPD drug, aclidinium, and its subsequent sale to Astra Zeneca, which brought it close to 900 million euros. Much of these funds, however, went to unsuccessful acquisitions. In the United States, especially, the company has invested more than 300 million euros and has barely managed to gain market share.
Almirall had a net profit of 4.3 million euros in 2022, compared to the losses of the previous year, with sales of 863 million, which grew by 4.4%. The pharmaceutical company expects to maintain modest growth this year, said its president Carlos Gallardo, since the full impact of the new drugs will only be visible in the accounts in 2024.
