Brookfield reaffirms its interest in Grifols, ask more time for analysis, sources say
By Andres Gonzalez
LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) -Canadian fund Brookfield BN.TO reaffirmed its interest in a potential takeover of Spanish drugmaker Grifols GRLS.MC and requested more time to complete due diligence for its possible bid, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
Brookfield sent a letter on Monday to the board asking for a few more weeks to complete the process that began this summer, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Canadian private equity firm said in July it was interested in launching a takeover bid jointly with the Grifols family, pending successful completion of due diligence.
Brookfield is expected to execute the deal in collaboration with other investors in its funds, a different source with knowledge of the talks said earlier this year. It has also begun discussions with banks to secure funding for the potential takeover.
Since early January, Gotham City Research, a short-seller fund, has released multiple reports accusing Grifols of overstating earnings and understating debt, which Grifols denies.
These accusations have wiped out around 35% of the Barcelona-based company's market value.
Spain's stock market regulator CNMV said last week it was sanctioning short-seller fund Gotham City Research for allegedly manipulating the market for Grifols shares, and the pharma group for defective financial reporting.
Reporting by Andres Gonzalez, editing by Susan Fenton
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