Creditor banks of Spanish CSP and electrical engineering firm Abengoa have agreed to inject 113 million euros into the company.
The short-term cash lifeline will help Abengoa, crippled by its debt-fueled expansion into the clean energy business, to temporarily avert what would be Spain’s biggest-ever bankruptcy.
The cash injection will allow the struggling firm to pay salaries and maintain current operations, the sources said.
The lenders will receive shares owned by Abengoa in Abengoa Yield worth more than double the loan as a guarantee, the sources said, adding that Spain’s official credit institute would also participate in the loan with 8.7 million euros.
The guarantee relates to around 15 percent of Abengoa Yield, according to Reuters calculations.
Abengoa was unavailable for comment after repeated attempts to contact the company while the steering committee representing its roughly 200 creditor banks worldwide declined to comment.
Although there is no official figure for the firm’s total financial liabilities, separate sources familiar with the matter say they total at least 25 billion euros, 80 percent of which sits with lenders such as Santander, HSBC and Credit Agricole.
An additional 100 million euros could be granted by creditors next month if Lazard, which is advising Abengoa, puts forward a credible restructuring plan by Jan. 18, banking sources told Reuters last week.
The company, which started out 70 years ago as a business designing and producing electricity meters in Seville, southern Spain, is now a renewable energy giant operating mostly thermal solar power plants in a dozen countries across four continents.
