Grifols has been experiencing difficulties since April 2022, the date on which the German company Biotest was acquired for 1.413 million euros. Since then, the pharmaceutical company’s debt has accumulated to a massive amount of more than $9.5 billion. Bearish fund Gotham City Research used this figure to publish a devastating report on the company’s results. In the document, she accuses him of manipulating her accounts and hiding part of her debt. The accusations caused Grifols shares to lose up to 50% of their value at the Ibex 35 open and closed the session down 25.91%. After the CNMV rejected the data provided by Gotham City, the Catalan company hid behind the fact that its accounts were “fully approved” by its auditor KPMG, which has not yet commented on the matter. The report also implicates eleven members of Grifols’ board of directors, who are ultimately responsible for the company and its published accounts. Who is part of this?
The apparent president of the pharmaceutical company is Swiss Thomas Glanzmann. He became the third chief executive officer in five months: In February 2023, he succeeded Steven F. Mayer, who took over after the retirement of Victor Grifols. The former vice president of the firm also holds the responsibility of being CEO and has served as a director since April 2006. These are not the only management positions he has held. Between 2006 and 2011, he served as CEO and President of Gambro AB, and prior to this position, he was CEO and Managing Director of HemoCue AB, Senior Vice President and Senior Corporate Executive of Baxter Healthcare Corporation, President of Baxter Bioscience, He served as CEO and President of Immuno International. of the European Biotechnology Group, among others. His arrival at the top position at Grifols coincided with the need to undertake the radical changes required to optimize the group’s accounts and develop future expansion plans.
Founding family on the board of directors
It’s on the board of directors Three members of the founding Catalan family: Raimon Grifols (vice president and corporate general manager, brother of former president), Victor Grifols Deu (General Manager, former president’s son) and Albert Grifols Koma-Cros (executive Director). The first two had been joint CEOs since January 1, 2017, when they succeeded Víctor Grifols Roura, brother of Raimon Grifols, who left his seat on the board last December, although he remained chairman emeritus. And the three hold different positions in governing bodies of various Grifols Group companies, such as the Scranton Enterprises ‘family office’ that formed the basis of the controversial Gotham City report.
In addition to being a supportive CEO, Raimon Grifols was not a secretary and director He served on the board of directors between 2001 and 2015, and also served as a director and deputy secretary of the board in 2015. In 2016, he was a partner in the law firm Osborne Clarke, founded by Tomás Dagá, another director of the Grifols and the family’s trusted man. . Víctor Grifols Deu was the general manager He joined the Group in 2001 as an analyst in the Planning and Control Department, and was promoted to director in 2008 and joined the Executive Board. Albert Grifols was the last name in the family To join the group. His arrival dates back to 2004, when he, like Víctor Grifols, joined the Planning and Control Department as an analyst. He took on the position of Corporate Treasury Director in 2013 and moved to Ireland as the firm’s CEO from 2018-2020.
Former US ambassador and Osborne Clarke
One of Grifols’ most relevant managers James CostosHe joined the board of directors in October 2020. He is an American diplomat and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Political Science. United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra Between 2013 and 2017. He currently heads Secuoya Studios in Madrid. He is also a board member of PJT Partners, senior advisor to FC Barcelona and senior managing director of the Venture Technology Group at Dentons. He was selected as a member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and is involved in the humanitarian world as a consultant to the Human Rights Campaign and cultural activities such as the Reina Sofia Museum.
Carina Szpilka LazaroHe is also a current partner of KFund Venture Capital, an independent director of Abanca and Meliá, was chairman of Adigital, was in the founding team of ING Direct in Spain in 1998 and has been on the board of directors since May 2015. After leading the French subsidiary from 2008 to 2010, he served as CEO of that organization from 2010 to 2013. He also sits on the board of directors. Íñigo Sánchez-Asiaín MardonesHe has been a director of Grifols since May 2015. He is the founding partner of Portobello Capital, the manager responsible for investments in companies such as Angulas Aguinaga, also serves as vice president, and is also a member of the executive board of Hotels & Resorts Blue Sea. , where he became a director. He served as deputy general manager at Banco Santander between 1993-2005 and as a board member at Ibersuizas Gestión SGECR between 2005-2010.
The council also includes: Montserrat Muñoz Abellana, is a chemical engineering graduate from the Institut Químic de Sarrià in Barcelona and has had several executive development programs at IESE, INSEAD and London Business School. He served as a senior executive at Danone for 17 years and until the end of 2022; where he served as vice president of worldwide medical nutrition operations, general manager of medical nutrition at Iberia, and vice president of Digital Transformation of the Value Chain. Share a seat Susana González RodríguezHe is the CEO of Rockwell Automation, where he has served as president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions since January 2019. She is also CEO of Rockwell Automation BV and a member of the Conference Board’s Global Business Women Leaders Council.
It is provided by the most technical part. Enriqueta Felip FontHe has been a director at Grifols since May 2019. He is chairman of the oncology committee at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and principal investigator of the lung and head and neck cancer group at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO). He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Parc Tauli Research and Innovation Institute. Throughout her career, she has been awarded many awards for her work in the field of oncology, such as the “Women in Oncology” award from the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) in 2015. Previously, she had been an associate professor at UAB since 2010. Until 2019.
The implications for advisors?
What is the responsibility of the people on the board of directors when such a scandal occurs? In this situation, Whether managers fulfill their obligations Based on those regulated by the National Securities Exchange Commission, they shouldn’t worry. “No one is more secure in knowing what is going on in the company than a manager,” says Luis Martín, managing partner of law firm Abencys. In the Grifols case, if the false data in the Gotham City report is confirmed, its consequences “and whether it is legally punishable” could be examined. But if the accounts are ultimately poorly formulated for the purpose of deception, the company will have two avenues to use. The first of these is the reaction of the company, which normally has insurance to cover such damages. The second would be to review his assets and prepare for a possible prison sentence.
But, Doesn’t impress managers even at reputation level. “Until conviction is achieved, it is throwing stones and hiding hands,” Martín says. And at the trial, everything will depend on the judge and the evidence presented, but the results often affect the apparent heads of the firm. An example is Pescanova. The company’s former chairman, Manuel Sousa, was sentenced to six years in prison while executives such as their former auditor BDO continued their professional lives.