Tubos Reunidos has decided this Monday to request insolvency proceedings, putting an end to months of uncertainty and failed negotiations. The decision comes in a context of strong division within the board of directors, where one part advocated acting sooner given an already unsustainable situation.
The internal fracture became evident days before with the resignation of a director who considered that the company should have entered into administration much earlier, reflecting the lack of consensus at the top.
The CNMV agrees to suspend its stock market trading
After these facts became known, the CNMV has agreed to immediately suspend the trading of Tubos Reunidos shares on the Stock Exchange due to "circumstances that may disrupt the normal development of operations on the aforementioned securities."
"Provisionally suspend, with immediate effect [...] trading on the Stock Exchanges and the Stock Exchange Interconnection System of shares and other securities that may grant the right to their subscription, acquisition or sale of the entity Tubos Reunidos S.A. due to circumstances that could disrupt the normal development of operations on the aforementioned securities," the supervisor stated in a press release.
A critical financial deterioration
The company, with more than a century of history and around 1,200 employees, carries a debt of 263 million euros and a very deteriorated financial situation.
In 2025 it registered losses of 118.8 million and a negative net worth, while its auditors were already warning of "significant doubts about its viability". The market's reaction was not long in coming: the stock plummeted 37.5% in a single session.
The rescue that ended up being an obstacle
The public loan received in 2021, key to avoiding bankruptcy at the time, has become a blockage to attracting investors. No buyer has agreed to assume the debt without a restructuring that has not had political backing.
This lack of agreement has closed the door to alternative solutions and has left the bankruptcy as the only viable way out.
Political impact and uncertain future
The crisis at Tubos Reunidos also has a strong political component. The Basque Government has called for greater involvement from the central Executive, while the case adds pressure in a delicate parliamentary context.
With the entry into administration, a new phase now opens in which the company will seek to restructure its debt and attract an industrial investor. Its future will depend on whether it manages to redirect a situation that has already jeopardized its continuity.