Cap Capital Investment Fund proposes to reduce the workforce of Tubos Reunion by 20% and keep wages intact for five years

The works councils of the Tubos Reunidos plants in Trapagaran and Amurrio met today with representatives of the CAP Capital fund to learn about the proposal to purchase both facilities, which began at 9 a.m. and is part of the open insolvency process to find a solution to the company's situation.

In fact, Cap Capital is one of the five potential buyers who has submitted an offer to the insolvency administration to take over the company.

Following the meeting, the Trapagaran Works Council has reported on the main details of the fund's proposal, which proposes significant labour and wage adjustments for potential buyers, includinga 20% reduction in the overall wage mass  with a reduction in the number of workers .

In addition to this measure,  proposesa wage freeze for five years . The measure would maintain the existing collective agreement, maintaining the conditions of flexibility, polyvalencia, shift and calendar. CAP Capital, for its part, emphasizes the need to reduceabsenteeism .

On the economic side, the British fund has announced an initial investment of EUR 50 million .

150 million debt, key to the transaction

One of the main conditions put forward by the investment fund CAP Capital to continue the purchase is related to the financial situation of Tubos Reunidos, a company that owes 150 million euros to the State Company for Industrial Holdings (SEPI).

As indicated at the meeting, the fund has not yet been in contact with that institution, but it makes its continuity conditional on a refinancing agreement or a debt write-off, meaning that if they fail to reach an agreement, CAP Capital would be willing to withdraw from the process.

The Trapagaran Commission questions the inaccuracy of the proposal

Workers' representatives in the Trapagaran Valley have expressed dissatisfaction with the nature of the meeting and believe that CAP Capital has presented a partial and limited detail plan based on the overall status of the group and without demonstrating specific knowledge of the specificities of each plant.

The Commission considers that the investor must be fully aware of the staffing, collective agreements, markets and products of each workplace in order to assess the feasibility of the proposal.

That is why he has asked the British fund to prepare a new meeting to provide detailed information on the Trapagaran factory, which, despite criticism, union representatives have been willing to deepen.

The ICO demands accountability from the board of directors

For its part, the Official Credit Institute (ICO), one of the creditors of Tubos Reunidos, has asked the insolvency administration to hold the board of directors of the company accountable for its situation.

Meanwhile, representatives of CAP Capital are continuing talks with the works council at the Amurrio plant to learn about the details of the potential buyers' proposal and the future of both production centres.

The process  is therefore stillopen , and the forthcoming meetings will be crucial to whether any of the offers submitted can guarantee the continuity of Tubos Reunion and the future of the workforce.