Celsa's creditor funds have already agreed with the Government on the conditions that must be met to take over 100% of the capital of the Catalan steel plant, which is currently in the hands of the Rubiralta family, according to sources consulted. Bloomberg reported yesterday that creditors plan to present this week the formal request for authorization to keep the shares. According to the sources consulted by this newspaper, it is expected that today the demands raised by the Executive and agreed with the funds will be made public, which would begin 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 comes after the name of several candidates to become industrial partners of Celsa, the Basque Sidenor and the Extremaduran Grupo CL emerged, as La Vanguardia reported yesterday. In recent weeks, the Catalan company ACIN Recycling Metals has also shown its interest in taking over all or a percentage of Celsa's recycling subsidiary (Ferimet), which has a turnover of around 500 million euros. Sources close to the company maintain that ACIN, owned by the Campmajó family, has already had some contact with one of the creditors to show its interest. Sources consulted indicate that the Generalitat “would welcome” a Catalan company keeping an important part of Celsa. ACIN invoices about 120 million.
The Government would like the Spanish industrial partner to have 25% of the shares of the steel plant based in Castellbisbal, although other sources maintain that this percentage would be 20%. One of the issues that are under discussion is how much the percentage assumed by the industrial partner is valued. Based on the valuation assumed by the judge in the ruling 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 was distributed among several industrial companies and not just one.
The entry of other companies into Celsa's capital other than the funds is studied in parallel with the configuration of the board of directors. For now, only the appointment of the former CEO of Naturgy, Rafael Villaseca, as president has emerged.
In addition to an industrial partner, the Government demands other commitments from the creditors that actually already appeared in the court ruling at the beginning of September: maintenance of employment, the integrity of the company and its decision centers.
The entry of an industrial partner will not be immediate since the authorization process from the Council of Ministers must first be overcome.
The ruling on Celsa was pioneering with the new bankruptcy law. With an annual turnover of 6,000 million and a debt of more than 3,000 million, the group had been immersed in legal proceedings for years. The debt was basically generated before the burst of the real estate bubble as a consequence of purchases abroad and investments in modernization of the company. The creditor funds are a large group in which SVP Global, Deutsche Bank, Sculptor and Anchorage stand out.
