2023-11-01 10:55:18
The Mexican investors Grupo Prodi and Mota-Engil México, which committed in February to participate in a capital increase in Duro Felguera for a total of 90 million to become its reference shareholders, yesterday disbursed 30 million, a third of the amount total of the two loans that they then agreed to grant to the Asturian company as a preliminary step to the subsequent injection of capital.
The disbursement of the rest of the amount of the loans, up to a total of 90 million euros, will be carried out before December 5, all in accordance with the terms of the capital increase agreed by the general meeting of the shareholders of Duro held last April 13.
With this first disbursement of the loans, a decisive step is taken in the capital increase operation, which is intended to improve the solvency and stability of the company.
The two loans will be converted into capital when the two consecutive capital increases are executed
The first of both will be carried out for an amount of just over 39.83 million through the issuance of 52 million new shares at 0.7661 euros per title, it will be allocated to current shareholders and with it the loan granted to Duro will be paid. by Mota-Engil México plus accrued interest. The part that is not acquired by the current owners of Duro will be subscribed by Mota-Engil México up to a maximum of 24% of the company.
The second increase, for just over 50 million to reach the planned 90 million in total, will be subscribed by the Prodi group through the capitalization of the loan that it had previously granted to Duro for that same amount and the part of the Mota-Engil credit that was not has been returned with the first extension. This operation will give Prodi control of 31% of Asturian engineering.
Prodi and Mota-Engil will act in concert within Duro. The capital increase will give the Mexican alliance between 31% and 55% of the capital of the Asturian engineering company depending on how many current shareholders exercise the preemptive subscription right of the tranche that has been reserved for them. Both the board of directors and the new investors hope that a large part of the current shareholders continue in the company and that the company continues to be listed on the stock market.
In fact, the operation was made subject by the Mexican investors to the condition of not having to launch a takeover bid for 100% of the company, a generic obligation, with exceptions, for investors who exceed 30% of the capital in a listed company. . With the preferential subscription tranche, the dilution that the more than 14,000 current shareholders of the company will suffer is mitigated.
The entry of the Mexican groups, selected after a search process for investors in which a large list of possible candidates was considered, is considered transcendental for the future of engineering, which was the subject of a public rescue in 2021 and already had to undertake another capital increase in 2018 to overcome another critical situation.
Duro Felguera currently has a negative net equity position, although it is not under legal cause for dissolution because the participatory loans provided by SEPI, banking and Principado in 2021 count as net equity for commercial purposes of capital reduction and liquidation, and because until closure of 2024 – and by virtue of a royal decree that was approved last year to alleviate the effects of covid, the war in Ukraine and other vicissitudes – the losses recorded in 2020 and 2021 are exempt from accounting for these purposes. The auditor has been warning In recent years there has been uncertainty about the future continuity of engineering in Gijón, to which society tries to respond by reinforcing capital.
The entry of shareholders through a capital increase is also a commitment by Duro to its financial creditors and was one of the conditions imposed by the Council of Ministers for the rescue granted to the company through temporary public aid in the amount of 120 million.
The company has emphasized that the entry of the new shareholders will improve the company’s solvency, reinforce its liquidity and give it the ability to access more lines of guarantees from the bank to be able to grow and aspire to new contracts. The improvement in hiring in recent months has meant that the group has practically exhausted the bank guarantees provided since 2021, which is why it needs to strengthen its own resources to access greater financial support. And continuing to promote hiring is a necessary condition to recover business levels prior to the Duro crisis and sustain its current structure, with 1,340 jobs on average as of June 30 despite the collective layoffs agreed in the final stretch of the year for a maximum of 180 workers and which has been partially carried out since then.
The company believes that, due to their industrial profile, their status as long-term investors and their strong presence in America and Africa, the Prodi and Mota-Engil groups can reinforce Duro’s penetration on both continents and contribute to expanding its order book. .
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