Fillip for Grifols Brookfield Asset Management is in talks with banks to refinance Grifols’ €9.5 billion debt, prior to a takeover.
Shares in the Spanish plasma therapeutics company rose by 6 per cent in Madrid as news leaked out regarding the Toronto real estate investment company’s plans.
One source close to the transaction, quoted by Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, said the funding would probably be in dollars. Another revealed that participating banks had committed to backing the loans before spreading them amongst third-party investors.
The Barcelona-headquartered announced in July that Grifols and Brookfield had agreed to take the company private, in a move that would lead to delisting.
Covering its back The Post Office spent £256.9 million (€301.6 million) on engaging 15 law firms and two barristers’ chambers between 2014 and 2024,
Their services were required with regard to the Horizon IT scandal where innocent subpostmasters were accused of apparent financial shortfalls that were were actually caused by faulty software.
The amounts involved were disclosed following a freedom of information request from the Lawyer magazine.
The outlay on legal costs was practically identical to the financial redress of £261 million (€306.5 million) paid out so far to the Horizon victims.
Tasty deal Alvaro Morata, captain of Spain’s national football team, and his business partner Pablo Nuño have sold part of their Manolo Bakes holding for €5.5 million.
Arte y Sano Millenium, jointly owned by Morata and Nuño, currently has a 30.7 per cent holding after selling 5,838 of their shares to VGO Capital, a UK private equity firm.
The British company has become Manolo Bakes’ principal shareholder after paying €14.2 million for the shares owned by the Manzano family, creators of the original recipe for the popular “Manolito” croissants.
VGO spent a total of €27.5 million on acquiring 49.9 per cent of the company and now plans to open further branches of the bakery chain outside Spain.
Out of steam British firm Mamod, founded in 1936, has ceased producing scale models of steam engines.
Owner Adrian Lockrey told the Daily Mail that the company made a steady £50,000 (€58,714) a month until sales plunged 50 per cent in February.
The miniature engines are powered by hexamine tablets, now banned as they can be used to create explosives.
It was like selling a torch without batteries, he told Counter-terrorism in London, but the authorities were adamant that Lockrey could not sell the tablets.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he lamented.
On track in Saudi Arabia Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Talgo is in talks to supply Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) with a further 20 high-speed trains.
Talgo’s chief executive Gonzalo Urquijo revealed recently that the company had “intensified” contacts with SAR without reaching agreement regarding prices.
The original €1.6 billion, 12-year contract signed in 2012 to provide and maintain trains for the Medina-Mecca railway included an option to provide additional units.
This was now necessary as passenger numbers had increased, and Urquijo said Talgo was prepared to provide the trains but emphasised that costs had risen “substantially” since the €35 million per train agreed in 2012.
Bedford project Universal is discussing tax incentives with UK ministers regarding a possible multibillion resort in Bedford.
Comcast, Universal’s owners, bought 500 acres (202.3 hectares) of land as a potential site for what would be Europe’s largest theme park in 2023.
According to the Financial Times, Comcast’s decision will partly depend on the outcome of the government talks.
Should they fail, Comcast could look elsewhere in Europe for the project, the FT’s sources said.
Digi debt Telecommunications company Digi has grown more than any other Spanish company but its debt has increased at the same time.
Over the last 18 months this rose by 35.2 per cent from €1.1 billion at the end of 2022 to €1.5 billion by June 30, 2024.
Consultants quoted in the Spanish media said that Digi’s debt did not entail significant financial risks, since this was a manageable 2.3 times more than the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.
