Grifols and Talecris Biotherapeutics Announce the Signing of a Consent Agreement With FTC Staff
By Grifols S.a., PRNESunday, May 1, 2011
BARCELONA, Spain, May 2, 2011 - Grifols, S.A. ("Grifols") and Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings
Corporation ("Talecris"), announced today that they have signed a "Consent
Agreement" with the Staff of the Bureau of Competition of the US Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) by means of which the conditions for the merger
transaction between both companies are agreed. The Consent Agreement is
subject to approval of the FTC Commissioners, who will be reviewing the
matter.
(Logo: photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110304/PH59473LOGO )
To satisfy the Consent Agreement conditions, Grifols has signed
agreements for the sale of assets and entered into certain commercial, lease
and manufacturing agreements with the Italian company Kedrion, for up to
seven (7) years.
These agreements refer to four main areas:
- Kedrion and Grifols enter into a contract manufacturing agreement to fractionate and purify Kedrion's plasma to deliver IVIG and Albumin under Kedrion's private label, and Factor VIII under the trade name Koate, all of them for sale only in the US. - Grifols sells to Kedrion the Melville fractionation facility. Grifols will manage the facility for up to a four-year period under a lease agreement with Kedrion. - Grifols sells to Kedrion the Talecris' FVIII US business (Koate). - Grifols sells to Kedrion two Plasma Collection Centers.
Grifols states that neither the Consent Agreement nor the agreements
signed with Kedrion will affect the operating synergies that Grifols expects
to achieve at the combined company with the merger transaction.
About Grifols
Grifols is a Spanish holding company, specializing in the
hospital-pharmaceutical sector, and with a presence in over 90 countries.
Since May 2006 it has been listed on the Spanish Continuous Market, and it is
included in the Ibex-35. Grifols is the leading European plasma products
company, and the fourth-largest producer in the world. The company has
implemented an ambitious investment plan to enable it to deliver sustained
growth over the next 8 to 10 years. For more information please visit:
www.grifols.com
About Talecris Biotherapeutics: Inspiration. Dedication. Innovation.
Talecris Biotherapeutics is a global biotherapeutic and biotechnology
company that discovers, develops and produces critical care treatments for
people with life-threatening disorders in a variety of therapeutic areas
including immunology, pulmonology, neurology and hemostasis. For more
information, please visit: www.talecris.com/
About Kedrion
Kedrion is active in the development, production and distribution of
plasma-derived pharmaceutical products used in treating patients affected by
haemophilia, immune deficiency, coagulation disorders and other forms of
serious diseases. Kedrion, founded in 2001 as business combination of family
owned companies, is the Italian leader in the sector and sells in 40
countries around the world. Headquartered in Italy (Castelvecchio Pascoli,
near Lucca), Kedrion has two production plants in Italy, in Bolognana and in
S. Antimo, and one in Hungary, in Godollo. Kedrion has also 12 plasma
collection centers, in the US, Germany and Hungary.
Disclaimer
This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate,"
"believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should" and similar
expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs,
assumptions and expectations and are subject to a number of factors that may
cause actual results to differ materially. These factors include but are not
limited to: the unprecedented volatility in the global economy; the risk that
the future business operations of Talecris or Grifols will not be successful;
the risk that we will not realize all of the anticipated benefits from the
acquisition of Talecris; the risk that customer retention and revenue
expansion goals for the Talecris transaction will not be met and that
disruptions from the Talecris transaction will harm relationships with
customers, employees and suppliers; the risk that unexpected costs will be
incurred; the outcome of litigation and regulatory proceedings to which
Grifols or Talecris may become a party; actions of competitors; changes and
developments affecting our industry; quarterly or cyclical variations in
financial results; development of new products and services; interest rates
and cost of borrowing; our ability to protect our intellectual property
rights; our ability to maintain and improve cost efficiency of operations,
including savings from restructuring actions; changes in foreign currency
exchange rates; changes in economic conditions, political conditions, trade
protection measures, licensing requirements and tax matters in the foreign
countries in which we do business; reliance on third parties for
manufacturing of products and provision of services; and other factors that
are set forth in the "Risk Factors" section, the "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" section and other
sections of and Talecris' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2010, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended March 31, 2010 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Neither Grifols nor Talecris assume any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or
developments, except as required by law.
The proposed merger transaction involving Grifols and Talecris will be
submitted to the stockholders of Talecris for their consideration. In
connection with the proposed merger, Grifols will file with the SEC a
registration statement on Form F-4 that will include a joint proxy statement
of Grifols and Talecris. Talecris will mail the joint proxy
statement/prospectus to its stockholders. Talecris urges investors and
security holders to read the joint proxy statement/prospectus regarding the
proposed transaction when it becomes available because it will contain
important information regarding Grifols, Talecris and the proposed business
combination. You may obtain a free copy of the joint proxy
statement/prospectus, as well as other filings containing information about
Talecris, without charge, at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). You may
also obtain these documents, without charge, from Talecris' website,
www.talecris.com, under the tab "Investor Relations" and then under
the heading "Financial Information and SEC Filings." Grifols will also file
certain documents with the Spanish Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores
(the "CNMV") in connection with its shareholders' meeting to be held in
connection with the proposed business combination, which will be available on
the CNMV's website at www.cnmv.es.
Grifols, Talecris and their respective directors, executive officers and
certain other members of management and employees may be deemed to be
participants in the solicitation of proxies from the respective stockholders
of Grifols and Talecris in favor of the merger. Information regarding the
persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed participants in the
solicitation of the respective stockholders of Grifols and Talecris in
connection with the proposed merger will be set forth in the joint proxy
statement/prospectus when it is filed with the SEC. You can find information
about Talecris' executive officers and directors in its Form S-4 filed with
the SEC on April 13, 2010. You can obtain free copies of this document from
Talecris' website.
Media Contact: Raquel Lumbreras, +34-659-57-21-85, Borja Gomez, +34-650-40-22-25, Grifols' press office (Spain); Investor Relations: Nuria Pascual / Olga Santos, Grifols, S.A., +34-93-571-0221
Tags: Barcelona, Grifols Sa, Italy, May 2, Spain