A short bet on Spanish multinational pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer Grifols helped hedge fund General Industrial Partners earn double-digit gains while bullish bet on the same stock left former Elliott trader Frank Tuil nursing a loss, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites an investor document seen by Bloomberg in revealing that GIP’s fund gained 31.5% up to the end of April this year. The strategy notched a 28% gain in January alone on the back of bearish wagers against Grifols following publication of a report questioning the blood plasma company’s financial reporting by GIP’s publishing arm Gotham City Research, which sent shares plunging by 40%.
Grifols subsequently sued over Gotham’s claims that it manipulated both debt and earnings labelling the company’s owners “predatory short sellers”.
Meanwhile, Tuil’s Sparta found itself on the wrong side of the Grifols trade, losing 8% in the first three months of the year largely due to bullish bets on the Spanish company and Scottish engineering firm John Wood Group, according to another Bloomberg report.
