- Eurofins Scientific
- 24 June 2024 14:36:56
Source: Sharecast
Muddy Waters, led by Carson Block, said Eurofins’ financials "could contain material overstatements of profits, cash balances, and other asset values".
It also alleged that founder and chief executive Gilles Martin has spent decades “covertly enriching himself by peeling off real estate portions of Eurofins’ M&A transactions as early as 2005".
"As Eurofins grows larger, it makes smaller acquisitions, with 2019 acquisitions averaging $5m of annual revenue, which declined by 2023 to $3.1m. The vast majority of the acquisitions don’t meet the threshold for disclosure, keeping much of the spending opaque," the Muddy Waters report stated.
"Such a sprawling, complex company as Eurofins seemingly needs a robust internal audit team. However, based on our interviews with former employees, Eurofins’ internal audit function, which is based in Poland, leaves much to be desired," it added.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com