The board of directors of Talgo takes a step forward and sets out to negotiate the possible entry, partial or even total, of the Basque group Sidenor into the shareholding of the train construction company. With the support from central and regional governmentsthe latest proposal arrived from Euskadi and the industrial group led by José Antonio Jainaga has already been initially evaluated by Talgo, as confirmed this morning to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
In this way, and once approved by the board of directors last Friday, Talgo “has decided, after evaluating the proposal presented by the industrial group Sidenor, to begin negotiations aimed at analyzing a possible transaction that could involve the acquisition of a significant percentage of the capital stock of the Company or of its entirety.”
“The board of directors, at all times, will safeguard the interests of the Company and its shareholders. As the negotiation process progresses, the market will be promptly informed of any relevant fact that must be communicated, in accordance with current regulations,” he added in the brief statement sent to the supervisor.
Sidenor, owned by a group of directors led by president José Antonio Jainaga, would be in the process of acquiring 29.9% directly, but it does not close the door to a 100% takeover bid as has been confirmed. this morning by Talgo but also admitted last week, in another brief statement, when his formal interest was announced. Everything will depend, explain sources close to the conversations, on the weight that fellow travelers such as the State Society of Industrial Participations or the Basque Government are willing to assume. In the chamber is CriteriaCaixa, who expressed to La Moncloa months ago its availability to land in Talgo with a minority stake.
Jainaga has been trying for years to commercially diversify Sidenor’s special steel production, which concentrates 70% of its business in the automotive sector, with the risk that this entails when the four-wheel industry experiences downward demand cycles. . A situation that occurs due to consumer doubts about purchasing a car, whether with an internal combustion engine, hybrid or powered by batteries.
The president of Sidenor made the leap from high-level manager to businessman with the aforementioned purchase from Gerdau, accompanied by a team of half a dozen Basque executives, who follow him both in Sidenor and in the Mirai project. José Antonio Jainaga worked under Sabino Arrieta when this investor won the Sidenor privatization process. Later, Arrieta sold the steel company to the Brazilians. Industrial engineer and great connoisseur of the world of steel, Jainaga ended up taking absolute control of the Biscayan company.
In addition to a deficit in factory capacity, Talgo has the problem that its hard core of shareholders are leaving, with 40% of the capital through the instrumental company Pegaso. The American fund Trilantic, with just under 30% of Talgo, heads that group, which also includes Torreal, the Abelló family’s investment company, and the Oriol family. Until now, Trilantic has defended that it would only accept an offer that was directed at the entire capital, a position with which it could try to force the launch of a takeover bid after losing the Ganz Mavag asset.
It was in August when the Executive rejected the takeover bid presented by the Hungarian group, alleging “insurmountable” risks for the protection of Spain’s strategic interests. Within the framework of this entire process, in July Talgo confirmed that it had also received a proposal from the Czech group Skoda Transportation that included a business combination and industrial integration. However, the interest of this industrial group never went beyond that and did not materialize in a takeover bid as such, which is what Talgo intended before going further in the negotiations.
Talgo has two production plants and several maintenance centers in Spain. The largest train factory is in Rivabellosa (Álava) and has 700 workers, while the other is located in the Madrid municipality of Las Rozas, with 500 employees.
