Bloomberg, quoting people familiar with the matter, reported that a long running battle for the restructuring of Barcelona based steelmaker Celsa Group took an unexpected turn this week when the Spanish Prime Minister Mr Pedro Sanchez has called Deutsche Bank AG’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Christian Sewing to push for a haircut on the company’s debts. Sources said “The call took Deutsche Bank’s management by surprise, since it’s unusual for top executives to receive calls over decisions taken by their investment banking units. It’s unclear whether the conversation will move the needle in the negotiations.”Deutsche Bank is part of a group of creditors including also Cross Ocean Partners, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and SVPGlobal that have been in a dispute with Celsa & its owners Rubiralta family, since the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic. Celsa, which was under court protection for more than a year, has recovered thanks to a surge in the benchmark price of construction steel which has almost tripled since April 2020. The company, however, needs to agree on a restructuring plan with creditors before the end of the month to access new funds from a government-backed holding company. The company has asked its lenders to take a 52% haircut, arguing they bought the debt at a deep discount and so would still make a return on their investment. Creditors pushed back and proposed to cut the EUR 2.5 billion debt pile in exchange for taking over a 49% stake arguing that the company’s owners should share some of the financial pain in order to put the company on a more sustainable footing. The Rubiralta family is opposed to handing over its equity and has managed to mobilize the Catalan regional government in their support. Spain is also due to pass a new insolvency law next month to bring it into line with a European directive and that would tilt the legal situation more in favor of Celsa’s creditors.
Bloomberg, quoting people familiar with the matter, reported that a long running battle for the restructuring of Barcelona based steelmaker Celsa Group took an unexpected turn this week when the Spanish Prime Minister Mr Pedro Sanchez has called Deutsche Bank AG’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Christian Sewing to push for a haircut on the company’s debts. Sources said “The call took Deutsche Bank’s management by surprise, since it’s unusual for top executives to receive calls over decisions taken by their investment banking units. It’s unclear whether the conversation will move the needle in the negotiations.”Deutsche Bank is part of a group of creditors including also Cross Ocean Partners, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and SVPGlobal that have been in a dispute with Celsa & its owners Rubiralta family, since the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic. Celsa, which was under court protection for more than a year, has recovered thanks to a surge in the benchmark price of construction steel which has almost tripled since April 2020. The company, however, needs to agree on a restructuring plan with creditors before the end of the month to access new funds from a government-backed holding company. The company has asked its lenders to take a 52% haircut, arguing they bought the debt at a deep discount and so would still make a return on their investment. Creditors pushed back and proposed to cut the EUR 2.5 billion debt pile in exchange for taking over a 49% stake arguing that the company’s owners should share some of the financial pain in order to put the company on a more sustainable footing. The Rubiralta family is opposed to handing over its equity and has managed to mobilize the Catalan regional government in their support. Spain is also due to pass a new insolvency law next month to bring it into line with a European directive and that would tilt the legal situation more in favor of Celsa’s creditors.
