‘Orderly liquidation’ of AHMSA assets begins

“This act marks the beginning of an orderly liquidation process, the main objective of which is to obtain the best offer for the sale of the company’s assets,” AHMSA said in a statement.

“I assume this responsibility with the commitment to safeguard the interests of workers, employees, creditors and all affected sectors,” Aguilera Gomez said in the statement from AHMSA. “We will work diligently and in a coordinated manner to find the best solution for all interested parties.”

Workers and government monitoring the process

El Tiempo MX reported that former employees continue to man AHMSA’s entrances and access roads to ensure the assets are not removed without their knowledge.

“They say that there will be transparency in the process that follows the appraisal and sale, but we don’t trust them,” a former employee told El Tiempo.

Mexico’s Senate has also formed a special commission to monitor the bankruptcy process after former workers petitioned Congress, El Tiempo reported.

Calls for debt forgiveness and nationalization

At least one Mexican politician has called for financial incentives to entice potential investors to reactivate the steelmaker’s assets.

Ricardo Mejia Berdega, a representative for the state of Guerrero in Mexico’s federal Chamber of Deputies, wants the federal government to forgive or renegotiate any debts a buyer would inherit upon purchasing AHMSA. This would allow the new owners to concentrate on reactivating and modernizing the steel plants, according to a report in El Siglo de Torreon.

Without the forgiveness of AHMSA’s significant debts, estimated to be between $1 billion and $5 billion, “No person, no matter how rich, is going to invest because it is too risky, it is too volatile, and they will lose money,” economist Florencio Gonzalez told Vanguardia. He and former AHMSA workers are calling for the company’s nationalization.