The CEO of Grifols S.A. said Monday evening that his Spanish company’s acquisition of Talecris Biotherapeutics would likely result in minimal job cuts.

Victor Grifols Roura said he expects the total number of jobs eliminated to be less than 5 percent of the 8,500 people Grifols now employs in the U.S. after acquiring Talecris.

“Talecris is a very efficient company,” Grifols said. “We are not coming here with a sword.”

How many of those job cuts might occur in the Triangle, where Talecris employs more than 2,000 people, is unclear.

Grifols has operations in Los Angeles and the merger will create some redundant positions.

But Grifols said his team is interested in keeping the best employees, no matter if they are located in Los Angeles or the Triangle. He said Grifols will maintain a large executive presence in the Triangle.

“I don’t care if they live here or in Los Angeles,” he said.

Maybe it has something to do with the time difference in Europe.

On Friday, Spain's Grifols issued a press release confirming that on Wednesday it completed its $4 billion acquisition of Talecris Biotherapeutics. Employees, Wall Street investors and just about anyone else who cared, of course, knew it was a done deal two days ago.

Next week, CEO Victor Grifols is scheduled to visit the Triangle to meet with his newest employees: Talecris' more than 2,000 local workers. They'll be eager to hear his plans to combine the companies. The acquisition is expected to spur job cuts, as Grifols consolidates operations to boost profits.

There's some consolation. Most Talecris employees received shares in the company's Sept. 2009 initial public offering, when the stock started trading at $19.