The University of Girona will take over the management of the Girona Science Park after the sale of the production unit failed due to a lack of buyers.
The mercantile court number 1 of Girona has dictated this in an interlocutory order that puts an end to a long bankruptcy process that began in 2015 and entered the liquidation phase in 2017. Faced with the lack of investors, the court has approved the reversion of the complex to the University of Girona, owner of the land, which granted the surface right to a private foundation whose aim was to build and operate the center with the support of different employers, including the UdG itself, the Girona City Council, the Chamber of Commerce and the employers’ association FOEG.
According to the Roca Junyent office, which has been the legal adviser of the Science Park, the reversion of the surface right has been granted free of charge, because it was established in the constitutive title of the surface right. In this way, the UdG is spared the repayment of a debt that amounts to 42 million euros. The main creditor – owner of 38 million – is the General Administration of the State, through the Ministries of Economy, Industry and Finance. For years they granted loans for the construction of the center, popularly known as “parquetazos”. But they were impossible to return, since the business model – based on renting space to companies – registered a reduced ebitda and an annual income of around 2.5 million. It is for this reason, and for the central government’s refusal to refinance the debt, that the foundation was forced to file for bankruptcy.
After the judicial interlocutory order, which is firm and will be effective from October 31, the creditors – mainly the Ministry of Economy – will be able to recover 6.6 million euros of treasury that have accumulated during the competition. This has been possible thanks to the sale of two buildings to the UdG and the Generalitat. The latter has acquired the H2O building, which is the headquarters of the Catalan Water Research Institute.
The lawyer Josep Pujolràs indicates that the change of hands will take place through a new foundation promoted by the UdG. This time it will be of a public nature, so the park will not be able to tender if the situation becomes unsustainable again. The judicial interlocutory also ensures the continuity of the ten workers and the maintenance of the rental contracts for the hundred companies and institutions that occupy the complex. Thanks to the conclusion of the process, the thousand professionals who come to the park will be able to continue working normally.
