The creditor funds of the steel company Celsa have formalized the takeover of the company through the capitalization of 1.4 billion euros of debt. Rafael Villaseca has also been appointed as the new non-executive chairman, as was announced in September, and Jordi Cazorla has been appointed as CEO. The approval of the Spanish Government was not necessary, because none of the new shareholders exceeds 10%, although it is not ruled out that the Executive will give its approval in the coming weeks.
The company is thus continuing the implementation of the judicially approved restructuring plan, the company announced in a statement. A couple of months ago, the justice gave the go-ahead for the transfer of the property to the funds, replacing the founding Rubiralta family, in exchange for the capitalization of part of their debt.
In addition to the appointments to the company’s two key positions, Daniel Alaminos joins as secretary of the board. “The designation of the final board is very advanced”, adds the statement. Provisionally, Maria Esther Alfonso Evisa, Antonio Arenas Rodrigáñez, Francisco Javier Díaz-Gálvez de la Cámara and Luis Aurelio Martín Bernardo enter.
“With all this, a new stage begins which is a starting point for consolidating Celsa’s leadership in the sector”, highlighted Villaseca in the same note. The new president will meet in the coming weeks with the management teams of each of the operational centers “to listen to their concerns and learn in detail about the ongoing projects”, the note states.
For his part, Cazorla is general manager for southern Europe of DS Smith, a group in the packaging business with a turnover of 9,000 million and 30,000 employees. Previously, he held executive positions at Ideal Standard, American Standard, General Electric and Hewlett Packard. Until he joins Celsa, Sergio Vélez, head of FTI Consulting Spain, will serve as first executive.
These changes come in application of the restructuring plan approved by the court in September. With it, Celsa will want to reduce its debt by 1.4 billion euros and extend the maturity of the rest by five years, “to leave the company with a much improved financial situation”, explains the statement. The circulation lines are also extended.
The operation has included the acceptance by the new shareholders of a series of commitments with the authorities, among which the maintenance of the viability of the company in the long term, the decision-making of the group in Spain and the protection of employment and productive capacity within the framework of Celsa’s strategic nature. It remains to be seen, however, who will accompany the funds as the company’s industrial partner, as the Spanish Government wants. Among the possible candidates, Sidenor and the extreme CL Group stand out.
Before executing the sentence that establishes the change of ownership, the funds signed an agreement with the bank that allows the financing lines to be extended for five years for an amount of 525 million euros.