The Rubiralta family entrusts the future of its participation in the Celsa company to the decision made by the Government on whether or not to authorize foreign groups to take control of this large steel group.
In a statement, the current owners recall that "the restructuring plan approved in court means the takeover by foreign investors of a strategic Spanish company." Among the funds authorized to capitalize the debt in shares, companies such as SVP Global, Deutsche Bank, Sculptor, Cross Ocean, Anchorage, Golden Tree or Trinity Investments stand out, which come from countries such as Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom or the United States. In the statement, the Rubiralta family warns that "this fact, in accordance with Law 19/2003 of July 4 on the legal regime of capital movements and economic transactions abroad, requires an express authorization from the Government of Spain". Indeed, the regulations oblige the Council of Ministers to authorize the acquisition of 10% of the capital of strategic Spanish companies by foreign companies.
Last Monday, the Ministry of Industry already expressed itself in the same sense, pointing out that financial creditors must submit a request for authorization to take control of the company. According to Royal Decree 571/2023, which was approved in July of this year and which entered into force just six days ago with the aim of updating Law 19/2003 cited by Celsa in its statement, the Council of Ministers has three months ( and not six) to resolve the authorization. It is still unknown if the funds have already started processing the application. The Government also does not specify when the issue, crucial for the economy, will be resolved. Celsa is a large steel group that bills 6,000 million euros a year and employs 10,000 people directly through a hundred companies in different countries around the world.
According to the statement from the Ministry of Industry last Monday, it does not appear that the Government puts up a priori impediments to the change of ownership. The Ministry refers to the investment funds as "new owners" of Celsa and ensures that the Government has "maximum respect for judicial decisions that must be complied with, as it cannot be otherwise."
The sentence, handed down by the commercial court number 2 of Barcelona, is final and there is no appeal against it. It will be carried out under the supervision of the company Lexaudit, which will be in charge of materializing the plan for the homologation of the company's debt into shares after having led the restructuring process.
Today, union representatives meet with heads of investment funds to discuss the future of employment and tomorrow, the workers' representatives have been summoned by the Generalitat Department of Business, which closely follows the evolution of the company after the judgment. In addition, Minister Roger Torrent assured yesterday that he is going to meet with all the parties affected by the judicial decision and said that he will ensure that the integrity of the project is maintained.
In parallel, the investment funds are working to form the new board of directors of Celsa with profiles of recognized international prestige, while they are studying the election of a new CEO to replace Francesc Rubiralta, until now CEO and member of the second family generation. Foreign investment funds would be testing various professional profiles with experience in the world of consulting and debt restructuring for large companies.
