Abengoa sells its Spain-based biodiesel operation to oil firm Cepsa

Ethanol producer Abengoa has sold its 200,000tpy San Roque biodiesel operation to Spanish oil company Cepsa for €8 million.  

According to media reports in El Economista, Abengoa sold its Spanish biodiesel operations via the courts.

In a ruling dated 22 December 2016, Judge Ana Marín Herrero has approved the liquidation plan proposed by Abengoa Bioenergía San Roque, the company that owns the biodiesel plant that requested a creditors' contest on 30 September.  Cepsa will have the green light to gai the production unit located in the industrial estate of Palmones de San Roque, Cadiz.

In the feasibility plan, Abengoa Bioenergía San Roque points out that Cepsa's binding offer, which was presented on 2 September, affects practically all of the company's assets, with the exception of treasury and other financial assets. The proposal reaches eight million. The oil company will also have to pay for the stock of raw material and finished product (biodiesel) in the plant in the amount that results from its market value at the time of closing of the sale. The company that directed Pedro Miró has offered money in liquid, a condition very well valued by the creditors, according to El Economista.

Cepsa will assume all of the 51 employees of Abengoa Bioenergía San Roque, who will retain their current working conditions. On the contrary, the oil company is exempt from the obligation to pay any insolvency liabilities or against the mass of the company.

The production of the plant has been destined since its launch in 2009 to the Cepsa refinery, an essential issue for its viability. At present, its activity is limited to the maintenance of the facilities and there are no relevant contracts with third parties. In the last four years (2013, 2014, 2015 and until August 2016) the plant has suffered losses before taxes of more than 36 million.

Therefore, according to the viability plan, "the integration of the productive unit that is the object of the offer at Cepsa means its integration into a group with significant financial capacity, which will allow not to interrupt the running of the business, but also, the establishment of a more competitive position ".