24 Feb, 2021

Abengoa files for bankruptcy in Spain

author's image

By Isabell Witt


Renewable energy firm Abengoa SA has on Feb. 22 filed for voluntary bankruptcy proceedings at a court in Seville, Spain.

The filing comes after Abengoa terminated its restructuring agreement after creditors no longer supported an extension to the deadline to execute a deal reached in September 2020, because the firm could not obtain a €20 million liquidity line from the Andalusian government.

The bankruptcy filing ends Abengoa's pre-insolvency process that it initiated in August 2020 under Article 5 bis of Spain's Insolvency Proceedings to reach a refinancing agreement with creditors, in what has been the third time that the company sought to restructure.

Abengoa completed its second financial restructuring on April 26, 2019, in a deal that refinanced and amended the previously restructured debt and put new debt securities in place, including liquidity of up to €97 million of convertible bonds, and additional bonding lines for up to €140 million.

The first €9 billion restructuring was completed in March 2017, after the company filed for pre-insolvency proceedings in Spain in 2015. This restructuring resulted in creditors taking control of the company after implementing an agreement under Spanish homologación judicial proceedings, in addition to multiple proceedings in other jurisdictions, including Chapter 11 in the U.S., and an English company voluntary arrangement in the U.K.