The owners of Celsa Group will face creditors including Deutsche Bank AG and Strategic Value Partners in a Barcelona court this week, a key step in a three-year battle over control of the Spanish steelmaker.
(Bloomberg) — The owners of Celsa Group will face creditors including Deutsche Bank AG and Strategic Value Partners in a Barcelona court this week, a key step in a three-year battle over control of the Spanish steelmaker.
Both sides will present arguments over a restructuring plan for the firm at a commercial tribunal in Barcelona, starting on Monday. The Rubiralta family, which owns Celsa, has been locked in a legal dispute with its creditors over how to restructure the firm’s finances since April 2020.
The case is also the first big test for a new legal framework introduced by Spain to deal with insolvent companies. One key feature of the legislation is that it allows creditors to impose a restructuring plan on a company’s shareholders if they win enough support from the different categories of debt holders.
Creditors, also including Anchorage Capital Group, Attestor Capital, Cross Ocean Partners and GoldenTree Asset Management, submitted a restructuring plan in September, shortly after Spain passed the new law.
That element will be key in the case of Celsa. The firm asked lenders to take a haircut, arguing they had bought the debt at a deep discount and so still stood to make a return on their investment. Creditors, however, pushed back, saying the Rubiraltas should share some of the financial pain of putting the company on a firmer footing.
Representatives for Celsa and the ad hoc group of creditors declined to comment.
Under the plan presented by creditors, they would take control of the company and reduce a €2.8 billion euro ($3.1 billion) debt pile by almost half. The Rubiralta family is not willing to cede control, and is basing its defense on reports conducted by Lazard Ltd. and AZ Capital that say Celsa is worth €6 billion.
A report by financial consultancy firm Lexaudit for the creditor group valued the company at €2.8 billion, while a previous study conducted by Grant Thornton said it was worth between €2.4 billion and €2.78 billion.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.