The Celsa group will remain in the hands of several investment funds after a ruling by the Barcelona commercial court has ruled that they can convert the million-dollar loans they granted to the large steel company of Catalonia into shares. Among them, SVP Global, Deutsche Bank, Sculptor and Anchorage stand out, to whom the company owed a total of 3,000 million euros.
The sentence handed down by the commercial court number 2 of Barcelona is final, except that prejudicial or unconstitutionality issues are admitted for processing, before the European justice or the Constitutional Court, that the property raises against the new bankruptcy law.
The Rubiralta family will thus lose ownership of the company, which employs 10,000 workers and bills 6,000 million euros a year. Early this afternoon, the works council will meet with the company in an emergency meeting. The unions have always been against the change of hands of the property as they fear that foreign funds apply cuts.
In the ruling, the magistrate agrees to approve the restructuring plan, understanding that it meets all the legal requirements given that the amount of the debt is much higher than the value of the company and that, with the creditors' proposal, viability is ensured. by Celsa. The ruling states that “in a modern competitive economy, the market is and must be the sole arbiter of economic survival.”
Now, the funds must appoint an independent board of directors to be in charge of managing the business. Likewise, the new shareholders must draw up a new plan to refinance the remaining part of the liability. The restructuring plan that today has been approved by the judge reduces the debt by 1,291 million euros, so there are still more than 1,000 million euros to refinance to reach 3,000 of the total liabilities.
