Villar Mir Group (GVM) has agreed to refinance the bulk of its debt with the Monaco-based fund Tyrus Capital after signing the sale of its real estate company Priesa to Aedas for 50 million euros and having collected Sonatrach nearly 126 million euros for the transfer of 49% in the Algerian company Fertial.
The company founded by Juan Miguel Villar Mir, who died on July 6, and directed by Javier López Madrid has thereby reduced its debt to 120 million euros and has extended the maturities by three years (until 2027).
Within the framework of this latest restructuring, the group has also managed to get rid of one of its most demanding creditors, LetterOne, the Luxembourg-based conglomerate of investment companies led by the Russian Mikjail Fridman and that in Spain stands out as a controlling shareholder of the Dia supermarket chain.
At the end of 2020, LetterOne had more than $200 million invested in Tyrus, whose relationship with the Villar Mir family dates back to 2015, when it participated in OHL’s capital increase and entered into GVM’s debt. In this refinancing, LetterOne has been repaid and Tyrus has added other investors to the debt, whose interest has been reduced.
The business holding now has 40.7% of the ferroalloys group as its main asset Ferroglobe, listed on the Nasdaq. This stake has a market value of more than 300 million euros. Likewise, it maintains its energy businesses, with a focus on the development of renewables, on the one hand, and the marketing company Energya, on the other. Finally, after selling Priesa to Aedas, it still maintains some real estate assets in the United States.
Since 2017 GVM has managed to reduce debt from 1,500 million euros to the aforementioned 120 million. To reduce it, the group has undertaken aggressive weight loss in recent years. Thus, before Fertial and Priesa, the stakes in Abertis and Colonial, Torre Espacio, Fertiberia, a relevant part of Ferroglobe and OHLA have been separated from its perimeters, from which it divested its last 7% in 2023 when executing Tyrus debt guarantees.
The plan of Javier López Madrid, CEO of GVMaims to continue cutting debt to make a financially sustainable group that pivots on Ferroglobe and energy activities. In this sense, the objective is to reduce debt by half in the next 12-18 months, thus going from the current 120 million to around 60 million.
For this it has several assets. The company’s roadmap includes divesting the real estate assets it has retained in the United States in the future. Likewise, the agreement with Sonatrach for Fertial reached a price of 147 million, so has yet to receive around 20 million (there is a very small park linked to Fertiberia). In the inorganic chapter, VM Energía can value assets, since it has a portfolio of more than 1 GW (600 MW of solar and wind developments in Spain and a 356 MW pumped hydroelectric plant in Granada). In fact, in the latter, which is pending the Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA), the intention is to bring in a partner, which would report income that could be allocated in part to debt repayment.
Additionally, GVM has since this year received dividends from Ferroglobe, which after its restructuring has begun a growth phase. They are limited for now, but the expectation is that they will increase.
The plan of the Spanish group is that with the future reduction of the debt it can refinance again and enter a bank with an adjustment of financial costs.
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