Grifols plans to invest $402 million in new industrial centre, El Economista says

(Reuters) – Spanish drugmaker Grifols plans to invest 360 million euros ($401.98 million) to build a new industrial plant in Barcelona for its engineering department, newspaper El Economista said on Monday, citing unidentified company sources.

Grifols is seeking to centralise operations currently dispersed across different locations, El Economista said.

The works are scheduled to start next year and the facility will be ready by the end of the decade, the newspaper reported.

A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The Grifols founding family, which owns about 30% of the company, and Canadian fund Brookfield agreed in July to evaluate a possible joint takeover bid for Grifols with the intent to delist it.

Grifols lost a third of its market value in January when short-seller fund Gotham City Research started releasing reports accusing Grifols of overstating earnings and understating debt. Following the reports Grifols announced governance changes and revised its reported leverage higher.

($1 = 0.8956 euros)

(Reporting by Joanna Jonczyk-Gwizdala, Editing by Inti Landauro and Jan Harvey)