The judge awards the Aluvisa traffic light company, which employs 300 people, to Tikehau.

The French asset management firm Tikehau Capital has been awarded the production unit of the Catalan traffic light and radar company Aluvisa, which is currently in bankruptcy proceedings, absorbing the company's 317 employees in Spain and its subsidiaries. The transaction has been authorized by Commercial Court No. 3 of Barcelona.

The company, based in Cornellà, was declared bankrupt in July with debts of more than €52 million. FTI Consulting is the bankruptcy administrator.

The liabilities of the bankruptcy proceedings exceed 51 million euros.

The French company Tikehau acquires the Catalan firm through its subsidiary, EYSA, which it acquired earlier this year. The production unit awarded by the court is solely the one that manages the business in Spain. It excludes its activity in Poland and other markets, which were precisely the ones that led to the voluntary bankruptcy filing.

The ruling issued by Judge Javier Ramos states that the request for voluntary bankruptcy was accompanied by "a binding offer to purchase the production unit" from EYSA to take over the activity in Spain. Aluvisa—owned by a group of Spanish investors—installs and remotely manages networks of traffic lights, speed cameras, and emission zone control systems in cities.

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The offer is for just over 6.3 million euros, the majority of which is to cover the debts of the acquired production unit. 1.5 million euros will be paid in cash, as stated in the ruling. The judge points out that the buyer "assumes all the liabilities and labor risks, in a significant amount." The new owner's commitment is to maintain and continue the activity for at least two years. The ruling also states that the employees were informed and accepted the subrogation of "all the employment contracts of the bankrupt company in its branch of activity in Spain (317 employees)."

As usual, the purchasing company assumes the public contracts that were awarded to the company now in bankruptcy.

The request for voluntary competition came after "an unexpected decision by the Administration of the Republic of Poland on a public contract with a €51.2 million award, which led to the execution of contractual guarantees."