Cox Energy has presented a EUR 564 million offer to acquire all Abengoé s businesses and its corporate headquarters. Led by Enrique Riquelme, based in Alicante, the industrial group operates in Spain and across Latin America. The proposal includes a minimum payment of EUR 27.3 million to the creditors, with a mechanism designed to raise that amount over time. The bankruptcy administration’s assessment indicates that all loans are privileged, and Cox Energy would assume EUR 206 million of outstanding debt plus guarantees tied to Abengoa projects, along with EUR 252 million of Project Financing debt attributed to other assets by the Sevillian engineering company. In addition, the buyer would take responsibility for EUR 22.8 million in pending social security payments and ensure full repayment of concessional loans to creditors.
The financial plan also foresees guarantees totaling EUR 300 million, reducing Abengoa’s treasury needs by about two-thirds. Cox Energy would contribute up to EUR 50 million from the EUR 2.5 million set aside to cover late payroll for the Andalusian company’s workers, with an extra EUR 7.5 million committed if the award is granted, payable from the decision date through the closing of the acquisition (Cox Energy, Improvement Proposal, 2024).
The information appears in Cox Energy’s improvement proposal submitted to the bankruptcy administration last Friday. The firm positions Abengoa as a strategic asset for Spain and argues for turning it into a benchmark again, both domestically and internationally. The company believes its plan can form a leading group for clean energy solutions on a global scale, according to statements from the president, Enrique Riquelme (Cox Energy, Improvement Proposal, 2024).
Rather than remaining a written pledge, Cox Energy’s commitments are already taking shape. The company was directly awarded a EUR 200 million contract to build the Sol del Vallenar photovoltaic plant in Chile. The project is slated to run for 18 months and is expected to generate employment for up to one thousand people (Cox Energy, Project Award, 2024).
In line with this momentum, the firm notes that the contract is one example within a broader portfolio exceeding EUR 3.2 billion. The plan operates under a cost-plus model with an 8% profit margin. The executive team says more contracts will follow in the coming weeks, expanding into Chile and Spain under the same program and maintaining profitability guarantees (Cox Energy, Portfolio Outlook, 2024).
A solid business plan
The core components of the improvement proposal show a strategy that aims to secure Abengoa’s viability over the short, medium, and long term. The plan envisions safeguarding more than 9,500 jobs and extending Abengoa’s footprint to regions where Cox Energy already operates, including North America, Colombia, Central America, and the Caribbean. The Seville headquarters would stay in place while leveraging geographic complementarities between the two entities. Riquelme emphasizes that the ultimate aim is to create a world-leading Spanish engineering group, combining strengths from both parties (Cox Energy, Improvement Proposal, 2024).