At CL Grupo Industrial, we have formalised the acquisition of the Gallardo Balboa Group. The final signing took place following approval of the agreement by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), as well as the consent of the creditor banks and the US fund KKR, the former owner of the steel group.
On 11 July, we reached a preliminary agreement to integrate the Gallardo Balboa Group into the holding company chaired by Ricardo Leal. Since then, we have already carried out a capital increase worth 70 million euros and injected liquidity to take on 100% of the outstanding payments owed to creditors. In total, we have assumed financial commitments of more than 145 million euros, thus ensuring the viability and future of Gallardo Balboa.
As we announced a month ago, for this new project we are counting on the 900 people who make up the current workforce of the Gallardo Balboa Group. The aim of the Leal family is to implement an industrial plan that strengthens the solidity of the Gallardo Balboa Group and turns it into a benchmark in the steel sector in the European market.
“Following the Covid-19 crisis, we are convinced that what Extremadura and Spain need is a strong commitment to reindustrialisation and to the workers of our country in order to reduce the dependence we currently have on Asian markets,” says Ricardo Leal, Chairman of CL Grupo Industrial. “The acquisition of Grupo Gallardo Balboa forms part of the strategy of applying our own management method to industrial companies that are facing difficulties, but that have a market and a future,” he adds. As a Group, we have already turned around other major companies such as GES in the Basque Country, also with a workforce of 800 people.
With the final signing of this agreement, we now rank among the top 100 Spanish companies by turnover, we are strengthening our position as an industrial benchmark at national level and, in addition, we are contributing to the development and prosperity of Extremadura’s economy.