The creditor funds of the Celsa Group will appoint Rafael Villaseca as president of the board of directors of the company to replace Francesc Rubiralta, as reported on Tuesday in a statement to Europa Press.
Following the approval by the court of the restructuring plan presented by the creditors of the Celsa Group, the company is betting on the former CEO of Gas Natural Fenosa to pilot the new stage of Celsa.
With this appointment, "the funds bet on a recognized figure and consensus with the management" and comply with the commitment announced in their restructuring plan to put the company in the hands of top-level independent executives with extensive professional careers, they explained.
Villaseca, an engineer from the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (UPC) and MBA from IESE, was CEO of Gas Natural Fenosa for thirteen years, from 2005 to 2018, and is the current Chairman of the Naturgy Foundation (formerly Gas Natural Fenosa).
He is also a director of Cementos Molins and VidaCaixa and has been a member of the Advisory Council of Foment del Treball Nacional.
Villaseca was named CEO of the Year at the 2010 Platts Global Energy Awards, the most important awards in the energy sector worldwide.
His career also includes positions as director of Enagás, director-general manager of the Panrico Group, CEO of Nueva Montaña Quijano, president of Infrastructure Management, president of the INISEL Group (today INDRA Group), president of the Spanish Energy Club and Member of the Board of Directors of the Círculo de Economía.
The appointment, add the new managers of Celsa, represents "the recognition by the creditors of the strategic nature of the steel company and its importance for the Spanish economy", as well as its commitment to the objective of guaranteeing financial stability of the company, the maintenance of employment and operations in Spain, as well as its international projection.
The second vice president and minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transition, Nadia Calviño, has assured that the Government has the "maximum respect" for the ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) that gives the ownership of the steel company Celsa to the funds that control its debt, and will execute the resolution while ensuring the strategic interests of Spain.
This was indicated this Wednesday in Brussels after the TSJC issued last Monday a sentence that agrees the approval of the restructuring plan proposed by Celsa's creditors, so they will be shareholders of the company replacing the current owners, the Rubiralta family.
In the resolution, the magistrate agreed to approve the restructuring of Celsa on the understanding that the procedure meets all the legal requirements, given that the amount of the debt (3,988 million) is much higher than the value of the company (between 2,400 and 2,775 million) and that, with the proposal of the creditors, the viability of the Group is ensured.
"We will see how the instruments we have have to be applied, always thinking about the general interest of our country, the protection of jobs and the protection of this important industrial capacity in Spain," said the vice president.
However, he has also stressed that "as in all other operations" the Government will have in mind "the defense and protection of the strategic interests of Spain."