Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols SA, that specialises in blood plasma-based products, is reportedly in talks to acquire Talecris Biotherapeutics, the world's third-largest plasma products manufacturer, for over $3 billion.

 In June 2009 the US regulator had blocked  the North Carolina-based Talecris' $3.1-billion bid to acquire Australia's CSL Ltd, the world's second largest maker of blood plasma products. (See: US FTC blocks CSL's $3.1-billion acquisition of Talecris Biotherapeutics) 

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had blocked CSL's bid to buy Talecris since it would have made CSL the leader in the$15-billion global market for plasma-derived and recombinant products and would also have reduced competition.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Barcelona-based Grifols with 2009 revenues of  €913.2 million, will offer more than the $3.1 billion offerred by CSL Ltd.

Grifol's bid to buy Talecris is not likely to be blocked by the regulators, since the Spanish firm has a negligible presence in the US, while Talecris is not a major player outside the US.

The deal is likely to be announced today, with the offer of a mix of mainly cash and some stocks.

Talecris, which had sales of $1.53 billion last year, operates 56 plasma collection centres and two manufacturing facilities in the US, is owned by private equity firms, Cerberus Partners and Ampersand Ventures.

Talecris's products are in the fastest-growing segments of the $15-billion global plasma-product market. It is the world's third-largest producer of plasma products in the US, behind Baxter International and CSL Ltd.

Grifols, listed on the Madrid stock exchange is a researcher, developer, manufacturer, and seller of plasma derivatives, IV therapy, enteral nutrition, diagnostic systems, and medical materials worldwide. The company operates in three segments: bioscience, hospital, and diagnostic.