Spain’s Grifols, China’s Shanghai RAAS form strategic alliance
(Reuters) – Spanish blood products company Grifols said on Thursday it has signed a strategic alliance with Shanghai RAAS as it looks to increase its sales of plasma-derived products in China.
Under the agreement, the Catalan company will take a 26.2 percent stake in Shanghai RAAS in exchange for a stake of 45 percent (with 40 percent voting rights) in its U.S. division Grifols Diagnostic Solutions (GDS).
The stake in the U.S. GDS subsidiary is valued at $1.93 billion.
The two companies had said they were in talks in November.
Grifols said that no external financing was required to fund the transaction which is expected to close in the second half of 2019 pending regulatory approval.
“This agreement will allow the company to reinforce its global expansion strategy and commercial presence in China,” brokerage CM Capital Markets said in a report.
Grifols shares were up 0.21 percent to 23.76 euros ($26.87) at 0821 GMT.
Reporting by Joanna Jonczyk-Gwizdala; editing by Jose Elias Rodriguez and Jason Neely
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