A commercial court in Barcelona has in its hands a very important decision because the future of one of the main Spanish companies is at stake, and also because of the precedent generated by its decision. Celsa, the leading European producer of low-emission circular steel, is considered a strategic company by the Government of Spain and for this reason it was granted a financing plan of 550 million euros through SEPI. This aid has not arrived because the steel company made losses and is in the hands of creditor funds. The trial began on Monday, which will end on July 11, in which it will be determined whether the company remains in the hands of the current owners, the Rubiralta family, or whether it goes to the funds.
The current managers of Celsa fear that if the creditors stay with the company, the first thing they will do is resell it to the highest bidder and split it up in different companies. After all, they are investors who do not know the sector. In their defense, the spokesmen for these groups maintain that, if they win the lawsuit, they will seek an “independent” board of directors that controls the company after dismissing the positions of trust.
We are not talking about any company. Celsa is the first private industrial group in Catalonia and moves, according to some sources, more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. I doubt that a company of this type in neighboring countries, such as France or Germany, would have reached this situation without intervention from the administrations.
The Rubiralta family is willing to assign 49% of the capital to the funds, but they are not satisfied and for this reason they have presented an approved restructuring plan that will give them ownership and convert the debt into shares. Among the creditors are Deutsche Bank or Goldman Sachs. The solemnity of the great speeches of many political leaders in favor of the industrialization of the country is striking, and, on the other hand, the little echo that the survival of a company as important as this one has. In a few days we will leave doubts with the judicial decision. The stakes are high.
