The number 6 Mercantile Court of Barcelona has finally awarded the curved glass manufacturer Cricursa to architectural glass manufacturer Tvitec, which will maintain around 130 jobs in its production units. The Leon-based market leader, which has its main plants in El Bierzo, won the bid against the Brand Corner despite the firm offering a slightly higher amount because the judicial authority weighed other relevant solvency factors.
The magistrate wrote, “The project of SOLUCIONES INTEGRALES DE CURVADO S.L. (Tvitec) offers more guarantees in terms of business and labour continuity, greater and faster satisfaction of the interests of the workers and, consequently, to the extent that the expectations of maintaining the activity are reasonable, in terms of a future satisfaction of the credits that at this procedural moment are unpaid.”
The decision of the Barcelona court coincides with the hopes of the majority of the staff at Cricursa. At the company’s two work centres in La Sentiu and Granollers, 74 percent of the votes were in favour of accepting the offer presented by TVITEC.
Cricursa filed for bankruptcy at the end of last year after entering into a precarious financial situation, adversely affecting its more than 300 workers.
Tvitec is firmly committed to relaunching the Cricursa business in a sustainable way, with a sizeable workforce and assuming the economic and social commitments that in the medium term outline a horizon of gradual growth for the Catalan manufacturer in all areas. This, and its deep knowledge of the sector, is something that has played a capital role in the reasoned determination of the magistrate who has supervised the contest.
In addition, during the award process, and after a consultation with the workers, 86 percent of the Cricursa workforce agreed with the industrial and social plan endorsed by Tvitec. Cricursa offered a letter of support, presented before the Chamber of the Mercantile in which the staff shared their confidence of the “social guarantees,” remarking that the offer had “the technical, commercial and financial support of Tvitec System Glass.”
Tvitec’s offer adds an investment close to EUR 15 million. The company exports its high-performance glass solutions to more than 50 countries, with significant weight in the United States and Canada. Last year its turnover exceeded EUR 150 million. It has an expansion plan underway to increase its production and launch innovative products in the Bayo industrial estate (Cubillos del Sil-León), something that puts even more emphasis on the future of its activities. The Cricursa purchase operation by Tvitec has been advised by the Irago Office, from Ponferrada, and Álvarez-Canal, from León.