Siemens has identified three key points which could delay or even thwart the deal it is negotiating with Spanish firm Gamesa. The most important is resolving the problem of eliminating competition in the industry, which a tie-up between the two companies would provoke. This issue could cause the transaction to be blocked.
F. Barciela / F.G. Ljubetic | The bios about Carlos Slim, the third richest man in the world according to Forbes, are very clear about the origins of his fortune. He made the most of his money during the peso crisis by acquiring several blocks of shares in the biggest Mexican companies at a bargain prices. This is how he will acquire FCC, one of the biggest Spanish construction firms, for just…7.6 euros per share.
Spain’s three biggest utility companies, Iberdrola, Endesa and Gas Natural, earned 30% less in 2015, recording a combined profit of € 5.0009,6 billion in 2015, 29.6% less than a year earlier.
History is repeating itself. In January 2014, Spanish firm Sacyr revealed that the extension of the Panama Canal had produced a cost overrun of 1.2 billion euros. Now it’s the turn of the consortium handling the Meca-Medina AVE high-speed train project. Is there a risk that these situations could damage the image of the Spanish firms involved?
BARCLAYS | Having largely pre-released numbers with its trading statement the focus from Repsol’s 4Q results is on whether or not the group will be able to retain its Investment Grade credit rating, given the prevailing environment.
Avangrid, the company born of the merger between Iberdrola and UIL assets, is going to launch a $ 9.600 billion investment plan until 2020.
BARCLAYS | Spanish airport operator AENA, the world’s largest by number of passengers, has reported a strong end to 2015 driven by a combination of strong passenger growth, tight control of opex and lower-than-expected financing charges. Aena’s IPO in 2015 was Spain’s biggest since the financial crisis.
Bankia’s current management team has decided to give back to minority shareholders the money they invested in the banks’s shares in July 2011 with 1% annual interest. The proposal is a sensible one because it benefits shareholders and tax payers, as well as Bankia’s image and balance sheet.
The approval by Abengoa’s board for its viability plan led us to hope that it could be going in the right direction. But as the days pass, the balloon is beginning to deflate and the company, which was the first big Andalusian multinational, is now doing everything it can to avoid being engulfed in Spain’s biggest ever insolvency situation. But it’s not having much success.
French telecoms operator Orange got the green light from the regulatory authorities to sell its 50% stake in Everything Everywhere (EE) to British Telecom (BT). But it seems UK regulator Ofcom is now prepared to use all the means at its disposal to block the merger between Three and O2 UK (Hutchison-Telefonica).