Mutares Research Report
link to our report:
Mutares reminds us of Aurelius, a company we wrote about in 2017 (whose shares are -78% since), except we believe Mutares is worse
Tomorrow, we will release a report on a highly levered, $10+ billion company. Shares listed in Spain. Though the company's maneuvers reminds us more of NMC Health plc than Let's Gowex, we believe shares are uninvestable, and will head to zero, just as Let's Gowex shares did.
We have many question + observations regarding Grifols. At this moment, we will leave you with one question that NO ONE has addressed:
Do Grifols' banks and creditors know that Grifols AND Scranton BOTH FULLY CONSOLIDATE Haema and BPC Plasma onto their financial statements?
El expresidente Víctor Grifols debía a Grifols 162 millones que devolvió este mes de enero
Former president Víctor Grifols owed Grifols 162 million, which he returned this January
~9 years ago, we exposed two outliers listed in Europe:
Let's Gowex and Quindell plc. Tomorrow, we will release a report on a company who we strongly suspect will join the Pantheon of Europe-listed outliers.
In the interim, feel free to guess this outlier's attributes:
GRF shareholders, due to minority interests, own shares in a loss-making entity that is heavily indebted. We believe GRF manipulates reported debt & EBITDA to artificially reduce leverage to 6x which we believe is closer to 10x-13x. Should we be correct, then GRF equity = 0.
Short selling is always and everywhere a dangerous proposition: that being said, there have been far worse times to get into “gentlemen short selling”. The ducks have just about all lined up.
Dear Burford Capital: Short Sellers are Important Players in Fulfilling Justice
Our full statement regarding litigation finance, short selling, and Burford Capital:
$BUR
Moody’s Ratings decided to withdraw its credit ratings of Grifols related loans because it believes it has insufficient or otherwise inadequate information to support the maintenance of the ratings on Friday July 12, 2024
Friendly reminder: we have NEVER seen any market regulator in any jurisdiction - other than in Germany - ban short selling of just a single issuer. This extraordinary action last year merits a thorough explanation, especially in light of today’s Wirecard news.
Today, Germany’s securities regulator, BAFIN imposed a ban on a single issuer, Wirecard. This action is an unprecedented action, as it is the first
such ban of an individual stock in its history (though BAFIN and other regulators outlawed shorting of bank shares in 2008).
Brookfield's takeover bid on Grifols is complicated because it does not trust the accounts of its subsidiary in China
La OPA de Brookfield sobre Grifols se complica porque no se fía de las cuentas de su filial en China
Both GRF and Scranton Enterprises (a Grifols family vehicle) fully consolidate BPC + Haema. BPC + Haema are very material to both GRF and Scranton's earnings and overall financial statements. We believe this treatment is deceptive and incorrect. Are their creditors aware?
Dear South Korea, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, & other countries restricting short selling: short selling bans destabilize the financial system, incite panic, and leads to selling of equities. Why? Short selling is insurance. If you eliminate insurance, people panic & sell.
Dan of Gotham City Research will be joining
@herbgreenberg
, Nate of
@HindenburgRes
, and
@sharesleuth
to discuss short selling later today.
For those unfamiliar with Gotham, here is our track record (on publicly disclosed short positions):
Today, Germany’s securities regulator, BAFIN imposed a ban on a single issuer, Wirecard. This action is an unprecedented action, as it is the first
such ban of an individual stock in its history (though BAFIN and other regulators outlawed shorting of bank shares in 2008).
After considering early retirement, we've decided instead to release a report within the next 7 days to celebrate our near 5-year anniversary of our $TTS report: "The Tile Shop: Like Crazy Eddie’s, But With An Undisclosed Related Party and A Chinese Twist
Stay tuned.
“Bull markets are born on pessimism, grown on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria.”
- John Templeton
Happy (almost) New Year! Know what you own for 2021.
Scranton 2021 filing shows an increase in liabilities of EUR 59 million relating to “advance payments from Grifols Worldwide Operations Ltd”. This transaction is undisclosed in GRF filings.
On October 12th we wrote a report titled: "Criteo SA (NASDAQ: $CRTO): Why We Believe Criteo’s Undisclosed Practices are Illegal and Harmful to Advertisers"
Reposting, for those who did not get a chance to read it (FYI there are more shoes to drop).
There is a French listed company which last year was accused of round tripping with a major supplier.
A major supplier is also a large shareholder in said company 🤷🏼♂️.
Nine months later and that supplier / shareholder has “corrected” its inventory and reported its sales at -25%
"Grifols has refused to answer any questions about the origin of this debt in question: neither the date on which it was settled, nor the reason for providing such a large amount, nor the interest rate, nor if there were guarantees for the company..."
Grifols' recently appointed CEO is being hailed as a change in direction, but he has been with Grifols since 2006, and on the board when the suspect transactions we describe in our report occurred. We find him heavily conflicted and a Grifols in everything but name.
Being “bullish” short selling right now is like being a cautious buyer of equities last year, in March 2020. You can’t time the bottom, but it’s the right posture:
@WillauerProsky
Matt Farrell,
Your dedication to speaking truth to power was only surpassed by your kindness and the nobility of your character.
May we meet once again,
❤️ Dan
Gotham City Research initiated coverage of $MED last year with a strong sell opinion. Shares are down -30% today, hitting the upper end of our price target. We will be providing our updated thoughts on $MED shares today.
This unprecedented short selling ban, like other bans that preceded it, appears to be motivated by the desire to calm financial markets. Short selling bans rarely achieve the desired effects. In fact, Gotham City Research believes these bans often have the exact opposite effect.
From the article (translated): "If investors expected less connection between Grifols and Scranton Enterprises BV, the Dutch-based Grifols' holding company that controls 8.1% of Grifols, what they have found is more.
More cross interests and more financial ties."
A bull market in single stock short selling began in February of last year (see below).
While we believe this trend remains intact with years remaining in it,
The risk of a countertrend rally seems very high, and may begin fairly soon.
Short selling is always and everywhere a dangerous proposition: that being said, there have been far worse times to get into “gentlemen short selling”. The ducks have just about all lined up.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Endurance International Group (EIGI) fraudulently inflated subscriber counts and revenue per subscriber numbers:
We wrote 4 reports about $EIGI and its suspect operating metrics in 2015:
On September 21st we wrote "Criteo: The true Fraudster in the Adtech Industry?"
$CRTO stock promoters dismiss us for being wrong about Criteo & ad fraud. If so, why did Criteo start offering domain level transparency, starting November?
Does this $YALA make sense? We think no.
World leading revenue growth, and cash flow generation
coupled with:
A business supposedly based in Africa, CFO/auditor in East Asia, and investor base in North America?
Some of you might see a unicorn. We see an ugly duck.
$MED quietly -26% today, trading at $159 per share as of this moment. We believe several problems not covered in our reports will be revealed over the next 6-12 months. More downside to come. Stay tuned.
If Criteo were to experience 1% of the scrutiny that Facebook currently is, for their privacy violations, most of the company's revenues would simply go away, At least Facebook gives back something to users and has their affirmative consent. cc:
@FTC
$CRTO $FB
Dear 정세균 Prime Minister of 대한민국,
The best capital markets in the world include minimal restrictions on short selling. If you want to develop South Korea's financial system into a world leading one, consider this fact. I'm happy to discuss further.
cc:
@moonriver365
Don’t trust us: BAFIN’s counterpart in the USA, the SEC itself, has expressed regret over past short selling bans. In fact, the head of the SEC in 2008 outright stated it would not impose short selling bans again, as the costs outweighed the benefits:
BAFIN & other regulators worldwide have a difficult, often thankless job. We are sympathetic to the difficulties they face. But a short selling ban is not the answer; we believe there are more effective means of achieving the desired objectives.
Disclosure: no position in WDI
5. Given these and other observations we have regarding Mutares, we leave you with a question:
Are Mutares' existing investors paid with funds collected from new investors?