Celsa’s creditor funds have already agreed with the central government on the conditions they must meet in order to obtain 100% of the capital of the Catalan steel mill, which is currently in the hands of the Rubiralta family, according to sources consulted. Bloomberg reported yesterday that the creditors expect to present this week the formal request for authorization to keep the shares. According to the sources consulted by this newspaper, it is planned that the demands raised by the Executive and agreed with the funds will be made public today, which would start the entire authorization process. Creditor sources, however, declined to comment yesterday.
According to Spanish legislation, the approval of the Council of Ministers is mandatory for foreign investors to enter the capital of a company considered strategic, such as Celsa.
The agreement on the terms of the takeover takes place after the names of several candidates to become Celsa’s industrial partners, the Basque Sidenor and the extreme Grupo CL, as La Vanguardia reported yesterday. In recent weeks, the Catalan company ACIN Recycling Metals has also shown interest in keeping all or a percentage of Celsa’s recycling subsidiary (Ferimet), which has a turnover of around 500 million euros. Sources close to the company claim that ACIN, owned by the Campmajó family, has already had some contact with one of the creditors to show their interest. Consulted sources point out that the Generalitat “would look favorably” on a Catalan company keeping a significant part of Celsa. ACIN invoices about 120 million.
The central government would like the Spanish industrial partner to have 25% of the shares of the steel mill based in Castellbisbal, although other sources claim that this percentage would be 20%. One of the topics under discussion is how much the percentage assumed by the industrial partner is valued. Considering the assessment assumed by the judge in the sentence in which he awarded the shares to Celsa’s creditors, 20% would be equivalent to around 500 million. It is also not ruled out that this percentage of the capital is distributed among several industrial companies and not just one.
The entry of other companies into the capital of Celsa other than the funds is studied in parallel with the configuration of the board of directors. For now, only the appointment of former CEO of Naturgy Rafael Villaseca as president has gone ahead.
In addition to an industrial partner, the Spanish Government demands other commitments from the creditors that actually already appeared in the court ruling of early September: maintenance of employment, the integrity of the company and its decision-making centers.
The entry of an industrial partner will not be immediate, since the authorization procedure of the Council of Ministers must first be passed.
The ruling on Celsa was a pioneer with the new bankruptcy law. With an annual turnover of 6,000 million euros and a debt of more than 3,000 million, the group had been immersed in legal proceedings for years. The debt was essentially created before the bursting of the real estate bubble as a result of purchases abroad and investments in modernization of the company. Creditor funds are a broad group in which SVP Global, Deutsche Bank, Sculptor and also Anchorage stand out.
