Grifols shares tumble as Brookfield plans to drop takeover plan

MADRID (Reuters) -Canadian fund Brookfield is planning to drop its plan to take over Spain’s Grifols, two sources close to the matter said on Wednesday, sending shares in the pharmaceutical firm down 10%.

Grifols shares were down 10% in early morning trading, having fallen as low as 12% while the blue-chip index IBEX 35 was down 0.6%, with Bloomberg first reporting Brookfield’s plans.

One of the sources said the Canadian private equity firm is walking away due to a disagreement on the company’s value.

It is unclear if both companies might resume talks, the sources said.

Brookfield said in September it was interested in launching a takeover bid jointly with the Grifols family, pending successful completion of due diligence.

Representatives of Grifols and Brookfield did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Andres Gonzalez, Editing by Louise Heavens)