At the center of Gotham City Research’s accusations is Grifols’ relationship with Scranton Enterprises, a Dutch company through which some directors and members of the Grifols family maintain their shares in the company: 8.4% of the approximately 30 % of the capital owned by the founding family.
Thus Gotham points out that the Grifols group consolidates the profits of two companies, BPC (Biotest) and Haema, in which it does not have shares, but rather are owned by the family holding company. The Gotham report also indicates that Grifols lent Scranton 95 million in 2018, to buy BPC and Haema, and has not included that loan in its accounts, although it is in Scranton’s.
Regarding this firm, he points out, its real debt would be between 27 and 31 times the ebitda and he considers that in the event of non-payment Grifols could be forced to assume it.
The Catalan company explained to the CNMV that Haema, acquired in 2018 by Grifols for 220 million euros, and Biotest, acquired shortly after for 286 million dollars, were sold to Scranton shortly after for the same price, with a management contract at favor of Grifols for its plasma centers, and a 30-year plasma supply contract.
The company, which recalls that it already communicated this to the regulators when the operation was carried out, points out that Grifols reserved the option to repurchase the shares at any time, so in its opinion it maintains control of the companies and can consolidate them.
Grifols acknowledges that it gave a loan of 95 million euros to Scranton, “despite the fact that Scranton had enough cash and did not need it,” as an additional requirement from a financial entity that granted it a loan of 360 million euros to finance the purchase. .
Scranton channels the investments of Grifols executives in various sectors. Among its participations is a package from Wallapop, the Juvé y Camps winery, the BeCorp real estate company or the sponsorship of the Joventut de Badalona basketball team.
The company financed its investments with dividends received from Grifols itself, which had to stop paying them after the purchase of Biotest. This has put pressure on its financial situation, with debts exceeding €1.3 billion in 2021 that are backed by the shares of Grifols itself. The fall in the stock market of these shares, which were worth more than 30 euros when the guarantees were established, is an additional risk for Scranton because financial entities may require additional guarantees to renew them when they expire, starting at the end of 2025.