(Bloomberg) -- Grifols SA has accelerated a plan to cut Chairman Thomas Glanzmann’s executive powers as the Spanish drugmaker seeks to bolster its corporate governance amid a takeover approach.
Glanzmann, who was appointed executive chairman in February 2023, has given up his executive functions and will from now on exclusively chair the board to “strengthen the company’s corporate governance, marking a clear separation between the board and the daily management,” Grifols said in a regulatory filing Monday. Originally, he was expected to give up his executive role in February 2025.
The move is the latest stage in a sweeping corporate overhaul Grifols has undertaken since January, when it was targeted by US-based short seller Gotham City Research. Since then, family members were removed from executive positions and outsider Nacho Abia was hired as chief executive officer.
Gotham’s report criticized Grifols governance and accounting practices. Grifols, which has lost about a third of its market value since then, has denied any wrongdoing.
The move by the board also comes as Brookfield Asset Management and the Grifols family, which controls about 30% of the company, are in talks to jointly make a bid to take the drugmaker private. The talks were disclosed in July and no further details have been officially confirmed.
Shareholders have been taking steps to defend their interests in case the offer is deemed too low. Last week three Grifols investors announced they were grouping their shares to demand a seat on the board. A group of shareholders have also hired law firm Araoz & Rueda to represent them during the takeover process.
Brookfield has been in talks with several sovereign wealth funds, including Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and Singapore’s GIC Pte., to partner on the takeover of Grifols, Bloomberg reported in August. Any proposal by the Toronto-based asset manager and the Grifols family could give the company an equity value of around €8 billion ($8.9 billion).
Going private would shield Grifols from the scrutiny of public markets as it tries to turn itself around. The company’s shares first slumped in 2020, as the pandemic hobbled Grifols’ ability to collect blood for plasma, and investors grew concerned over the debt that was amassed over years of acquisitions. Investor confidence tumbled again after the short seller report, and in the subsequent months as bad news trickled about the company’s ability to generate cash.
Mark Carney, chair of Brookfield Asset Management, is also chair of Bloomberg Inc.
(Updates with chart and details from sixth paragraph.)
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