Grifols shares are once again the most bearish of the day, with a sharp mid-afternoon drop of 9.52% to reach 8.788 euros on the IBEX 35 after already collapsing by 9% yesterday. At their lowest point of the session, the titles reached 8,418 euros (-13,10%), although they have subsequently softened the punishment.
After a year that has been a true ‘via crucis’, the value has suffered a new blow after Brookfield decided yesterday to abandon its intention to launch a delisting takeover bid for the company.
The Brookfield fund announced that after the negative reaction by the Transaction Committee and the Board of Directors of Grifols to its indicative offer of 10,50 euros for Class A shares (those listed on the Ibex 35) and 7.62 euros for Class B (Continuous Market), it will not make an offer on the company’s shares and will not launch a takeover bid.
As Grifols reported to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the company’s board of directors has appreciated all the efforts, “although they have not been sufficient, and remains focused on improving the long-term value of the company.” .
“Negative news, but expected after the company’s rejection of the non-binding price that Brookfield announced a week ago,” he says. Pedro Echeguren, Bankinter analyst. “We have been of the opinion for some time that there will not be a takeover bid for Grifols and that, if our expectations are met, the shares could fall to the lows of the month of March (Series A: 8.41 euros/share).”
The Bankinter expert also warns that Brookfield’s withdrawal “again highlights the high debt that the company has (the net debt is 9.2 billion euros or 6.0x EBITDA) and the maturities of the debt that must be refinanced.”
Especially pressing are two maturities in 2025: approximately 500 million euros in February of an issue of secured bonds and 1 billion in November of a working capital line of credit.
“The fund proposal was accompanied by a refinancing that the company must now undertake alone,” warns Echeguren. “We believe that Grifols will continue selling assets to achieve liquidity and could also increase capital”.
However, according to what the newspaper published today Expansionat the moment The founding family does not want to contemplate a capital increase so as not to dilute its 30% stake.. If Grifols manages to refinance the 2025 maturities, it will not have major obligations until 2027.
Before the summer and the negotiation of the takeover bid, the group managed to place 1,300 million in bonds (acquired mainly by the Apollo Global Management fund), but at an interest rate of 7.5%, much higher than that of historical issues.
Bankinter reiterates its recommendation of ‘sell‘. Grifols shares have fallen 45% since they set a 52-week high of 15.92 euros on December 29 of last year. The good news is that they have rebounded 38% since they marked a minimum of 6,362 euros on March 6.