MADRID, 7 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Hungarian group Ganz-Mavag (Magyar Vagon) is already finalizing the necessary procedures to be able to present the Public Acquisition Offer (OPA) for 100% of Talgo for approximately 630 million euros this afternoon at the close of the market.
As confirmed to Europa Press by sources in the sector, the Hungarians already managed to close a pre-agreement with the bank yesterday in order to avoid the main obstacle that the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) put in their first intention of presenting this operation in early February.
Specifically, he found a regulatory problem with it: that banks can cancel their loans with Talgo if the owner of the company changes. In the company’s accounts there are 23 entities with credits of 329 million euros.
However, Ganz-Mavag, led by businessmen György Bacsa and András Tombor, has convinced the bank to continue betting on the Talgo project, even if it changes hands, which will be a precedent for the Government’s decision. whether or not to veto this operation.
Once this pre-agreement has been achieved, the regulations require that the potential buyer send a letter of intent to the board of directors of the company, in this case of Talgo, explaining their reasons for acquiring its capital, which will have to meet to discuss it. .
However, since the interest of the Hungarians became known last November, the council has not at any time shown itself against the operation. In fact, it would be an opportunity for its main shareholder, the Trilantic fund – which controls 40% of the capital and which entered as an investor in Talgo in 2006 – to exit and make its investment profitable.
For all these reasons, if all the procedures are accelerated this Thursday, the OPA could be presented this afternoon. If any procedure is delayed, the operation will still be presented to the CNMV in the following days.
The next obstacle for Magyar Vagon will be to obtain the approval of the Spanish Government, which has already announced that it will try to stop the operation, as Talgo is a strategic company for the country, especially now that sustainable mobility is presented as the main stimulus for the economy. .
The Hungarians’ intention is to take advantage of Talgo’s high-speed technology to increase their capacity, now quite limited compared to other European giants such as Alstom. In fact, the company is almost two years late in delivering the Avril trains to Renfe and for which it could have to assume compensation of 116 million euros.
In any case, the anti-OPAS shield available to the Spanish Government could veto the operation, even if the buyer is European, although it will have to argue its decision very well to avoid future litigation. For now, the Executive has pointed out that there could be Russian investors behind it and the fact that Ganz-Mavag is 45% owned by the controversial Government of Viktor Orbán also weighs.
