The Extremadura company CL Grupo Industrial and the Basque company Sidenor appear in the crosshairs as possible candidates to take a minority stake as industrial partners of the new Celsa, which will control the majority of the creditor funds after the ruling that forces the exit of the Rubiralta family of the capital. Although the process is in an initial phase, the first movements have already begun, say sources in the sector.
CL Grupo declined to comment yesterday, while Sidenor sources assured that "we are following the Celsa issue", although they added that "we have had no contact". The sources consulted state that 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 state that this percentage would be 20%.
One of the topics under discussion is how much this percentage is valued. Based on the assessment made by the judge in the judgment in which he awarded the shares to Celsa's creditors, 20% would be equivalent to around 500 million euros.
The entry of an industrial partner – be it CL, Sidenor or some other group – will not be immediate, since the Council of Ministers must first give its approval for the funds to take control. For this authorization to take place, the Central Government demands three major commitments: maintaining employment, the integrity of the company and its decision-making headquarters, and the entry of a Spanish industrial partner. For this reason, some type of commitment may be required on the part of the new Spanish shareholder to obtain the green light to take over the shares.
CL Grupo Industrial, owned by the Leal family, was born in 1981 with the creation of the company Cristian Lay. Since then it has become an international holding company with 26 companies distributed in sectors such as steel, chemistry, the packaging business, energy, chemistry or consumption. CL Grupo Industrial exports to more than 30 countries and employs 3,000 people. Its aggregate turnover was 2.3 billion euros in 2022, 35% more than the previous year. Of this amount, around half corresponds to the steel sector.
The Basque company Sidenor, owned by José Antonio Jainaga, is a leader in the production of special long steels, according to the company. With production centers in the Basque Country, Cantabria and Catalonia, the company has commercial delegations in Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. It had a turnover of 1,067 million euros last year, with net profits of 62 million.
The entry of an industrial partner into Celsa is studied in parallel with the configuration of the board of directors. For now, only the appointment of Naturgy's former CEO, Rafael Villaseca, as president has gone ahead.
The ruling on Celsa has been a pioneer with the new bankruptcy law, as it has handed over 100% of the Rubiralta family's shares to the creditors without the possibility of presenting any appeal. With an annual turnover of 6,000 million and a debt of more than 3,000 million, the group was immersed this past year in a complex liability restructuring process. Creditors are a broad group that includes SVP Global, Deutsche Bank, Sculptor and Anchorage. The change of ownership will be carried out through the capitalization of 1,352 million euros of convertible debt and a part of jumbo debt.
