Comsa Refinances A €719M Syndicated Loan

30 December 2016 – Expansión

Financial oxygen for the Comsa Corporation. In the early hours of Thursday morning, the construction group managed to complete the refinancing of its debt with a group of eight banks, which have granted it a new syndicated loan amounting to €719 million. The loan must be repaid after four and a half years. The following banks have participated in the operation: Santander, CaixaBank, Bankia, Sabadell, BBVA, Popular, Bankinter and Unicaja.

The company, which is owned by the Miarnau (70%) and Sumarroca (30%) families, whereby obtained the blessing of its creditors to launch a new strategic plan for the period 2017-2020, which will force it to concentrate its activity solely on the infrastructure and engineering business, with a special focus on railway construction.

Comsa has agreed with the banks to sell off its other businesses between now and 2020, which means that it will place assets worth €200 million on the market, the proceeds of which will be used, in their entirety, to repay some of the company’s debt. Following its divestments from Aritex and CLD, all of its investments in the areas of concessions, renewable energy and the environment will also be put up for sale.

The eight entities that have participated in the refinancing may also acquire 50% of the group’s share capital in 2021, given that they have included a convertible debt tranche in the syndicate agreement amounting to €250 million. Nevertheless, the owner families may exercise a purchase option over that 50% stake and whereby prevent the conversion if certain conditions are fulfilled in 2021. Uría has advised the banks, Cuatrecasas and PwC have advised the company, and the law firm Toda & Nel·lo Abogados has advised the family.

Strategic plan

The new strategic plan outlined by the group chaired by Jorge Miarnau forecasts an increase in revenues from the infrastructure business, up from €950 million to €1,400 million in 2020. Moreover, the group will step on the accelerator in the international market, which will be a key lever for achieving these figures. The objective is to obtain 70% of sales from overseas within four years, compared to the forecast figure of 49% for this year.

Original story: Expansión (by S.Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake