US-based global investment firm KKR has made a formal takeover approach to Spain’s Grupo Gallardo Balboa, according to Tuesday’s Official Journal of the European Union.
KKR intends to buy the whole group via the acquisition of shares, the filing said, without adding details.
Grupo Gallardo Balboa is a holding company for various producers of corrugated steel. Its operating companies have factories throughout Spain, including Extremadura, Madrid, Asturias and Pais Vasco.
Spokesmen for neither company were available for further comment Wednesday.
In a statement Friday, Grupo Gallardo Balboa said it welcomed the approach KKR had made in terms of debt refinancing, with negotiations at an advanced stage.
The companies have been working together since 2014 alongside creditor banks to reduce Gallardo’s debt and sell off non-steel assets.
The European Commission said the transaction might fall within the scope of its Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved and interested parties have ten days from publication to submit their comments, the Journal said.
— Gianluca Baratti
