Grifols, S.A.

What does Grifols do?
Grifols produces medicines derived from human blood plasma. The company collects plasma at more than 400 donation centers, fractionates it into therapeutic proteins, and sells treatments for immune deficiencies, bleeding disorders, and critical care in more than 110 countries. It also operates a transfusion diagnostics business.

Is Grifols publicly traded?
Yes. Grifols shares trade on the Spanish stock exchanges under ticker GRF, with non-voting preferred shares under GRF.P. American Depositary Receipts trade on Nasdaq under GRFS. The company is a constituent of the IBEX 35 index.

Who founded Grifols?
Hematologist Josep Antoni Grifols i Roig founded a clinical laboratory in Barcelona in 1909. His sons developed the plasma fractionation business from the 1940s onward. The founding family still holds a significant shareholding and board representation.

Where is Grifols headquartered?
Grifols is headquartered in Sant Cugat del Valles, Catalonia, Spain, just outside Barcelona. Its largest operational hub outside Spain is in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, where subsidiary Grifols Therapeutics manufactures plasma medicines including Thrombate III.

What is Grifols' revenue?
For fiscal year 2025, Grifols reported net revenue of EUR 7,524 million, up 7.0 percent at constant currency. Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 1,825 million and group profit was EUR 402 million, more than double the prior year.

Does the Grifols family still control the company?
The family holds a substantial minority stake and board representation, giving it effective influence over strategy, but the company is publicly listed with a majority free float. A 2024 attempt by the family and Brookfield to take Grifols private was abandoned before a formal offer was made.

What happened with Gotham City Research?
In January 2024, short seller Gotham City Research accused Grifols of misreporting debt and earnings. The stock fell sharply before recovering partially. Grifols denied the claims, its auditors confirmed the accounts, and Spain's regulator fined Gotham for market manipulation in 2025.

Josep Antoni Grifols i Roig, a Catalan hematologist, founded a clinical analysis laboratory in Barcelona in 1909. The laboratory developed early techniques in blood transfusion and sterilization, and Grifols patented the flebula, an early device for indirect blood transfusion. His sons joined the business, and in 1940 they established Laboratorios Grifols, a dedicated blood plasma fractionation operation, one of the first of its kind in the world.

The company pioneered the plasmapheresis technique in Europe during the 1950s, working from methods developed by the founder's son, Dr. Josep Antoni Grifols i Lucas, who presented the technique at international medical congresses. Plasma fractionation began in earnest in 1943, when Grifols produced the first albumin in Spain. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the company built manufacturing capacity in Barcelona and expanded its product line into immunoglobulins and coagulation factors.

In 1987, Grifols listed on the Spanish stock exchange, providing capital for international expansion. The company established its United States presence through the acquisition of plasma collection centers and a fractionation plant in Clayton, North Carolina. International expansion continued through the 1990s with subsidiaries in Portugal, Latin America, and other markets.

The defining transaction in company history came in 2011. Grifols acquired Talecris Biotherapeutics, an American plasma products company based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, for approximately $4 billion. The deal transformed Grifols into one of the three largest plasma medicines companies in the world, added the Gamunex immunoglobulin line, and brought the Thrombate III antithrombin product into the portfolio. Grifols listed American Depositary Receipts on Nasdaq the same year.

In 2014, Grifols acquired Novartis's blood transfusion diagnostics business for approximately $1.7 billion, building out its Diagnostic unit. In 2022, the company took a majority stake in German plasma producer Biotest AG in a transaction valued at roughly EUR 1.6 billion, adding plasma capacity and product pipeline depth.

Recent history has been marked by financial stress and recovery. The Talecris and Biotest acquisitions left the company with a heavy debt load, and in January 2024 short seller Gotham City Research published a report questioning Grifols' accounting for debt and related-party transactions. The report triggered a sharp fall in the share price and regulatory scrutiny. Grifols rejected the allegations, and Spain's market regulator later fined Gotham City Research for market manipulation. In mid-2024, talks between the Grifols family and Brookfield over a possible take-private bid collapsed. Under new CEO Nacho Abia, appointed in 2024, the company focused on deleveraging and operational delivery, returning to profit growth and dividend payments by 2025.

Grifols publishes an integrated annual report with environmental, social, and governance disclosures. Its 2025 report documented EUR 67 million in environmental investment, a workforce of 25,257 employees with 98 percent on permanent contracts, and a total tax contribution of EUR 752 million across its operating countries.

The company's social model is unusual in that its raw material is donated by more than one million compensated donors. Grifols estimates that its products treated approximately 132 million patients in 2025. It donated EUR 21.2 million in product and EUR 8.5 million in support to patient associations during the year.

On ethics and governance, the company operates under Spanish corporate law and Nasdaq listing rules. The 2024 Gotham City Research episode raised questions about financial reporting transparency that the company addressed through expanded disclosure and an auditor-confirmed annual report. Spain's CNMV subsequently fined the short seller, but the episode left a governance overhang that management has worked to dispel through delivery against stated targets.

The most serious episode in recent Grifols history began in January 2024, when short seller Gotham City Research published allegations that the company overstated earnings and understated leverage through the classification of certain financial instruments. Grifols shares fell sharply over the following weeks, erasing billions of euros in market value. The company denied the allegations, published detailed rebuttals, and Spain's securities regulator opened an investigation into the report's authors. In 2025, the CNMV imposed a fine on Gotham City Research for spreading misleading information. Grifols' audited 2025 accounts did not support the report's central claims.

Separately, the company has faced scrutiny over plasma donor compensation practices in the United States, an industry-wide issue in which critics question whether paid donation incentivizes economically vulnerable populations. The practice is legal and regulated by the FDA, and Grifols follows FDA donor screening and testing requirements across its network.

Failed takeover talks in 2024, during which the Grifols family explored a joint bid with Brookfield to take the company private, also drew criticism from minority shareholders concerned about potential conflicts of interest. The proposal was abandoned in July 2024 without a formal offer.