Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) (“Ferroglobe”) confirms that its
Executive Chairman, Javier López Madrid, has been questioned by an
investigating court (“Audiencia Nacional”)1 in Madrid in
relation to an alleged payment in 2007 of €1.4 million by Obrascón
Huarte Lain, S.A. (“OHL”) in favor of public officials in the
context of the award of a public civil work in the Madrid region,
and that no charges have been brought against him. Mr. López
Madrid was a non-executive director of OHL at the time of the
alleged payment and remains a non-executive director of OHL, and
has never held any executive responsibility in OHL.
Mr. López Madrid was called to make a statement
by the Spanish police (Guardia Civil) on Thursday, April 20, and
travelled from London to Madrid to make himself available as soon
as possible. Mr. López Madrid was interviewed by the Spanish police
and held until the following day pending a declaration he made
before the court on April 21st. After making the declaration,
Mr. López Madrid was released, on condition that he make a Euro
100,000 security bond with the court within seven days. He remains
as “investigado” (under investigation by Audiencia Nacional) and
the court will now continue its investigation and decide whether to
bring any charges against Mr. López Madrid or the other
“investigados”.
The allegations do not involve Ferroglobe or Mr.
López Madrid’s actions on behalf of Ferroglobe (or its predecessor
Grupo FerroAtlántica).
Mr. López Madrid vehemently denies the
allegations against him and intends to defend himself vigorously in
the matter. The Board of Directors of Ferroglobe has reviewed the
developments and all the available information in this legal
proceeding, and will monitor any further developments.
1 Under Spanish law, investigations of
criminal offences are carried out by courts (rather than
prosecutors or other government bodies). For alleged corruption
crimes such as those in this investigation, Audiencia Nacional is
the applicable court for investigation. So “investigado” refers to
a person that is under investigation by a court that acts as a
prosecutor in the case, but no charges have been brought against
the person.
About Ferroglobe
Ferroglobe PLC is one of the world’s leading
suppliers of silicon metal, silicon-based specialty alloys, and
ferroalloys serving a customer base across the globe in dynamic and
fast-growing end markets, such as solar, automotive, consumer
products, construction and energy. The company is based in
London.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains ‘‘forward-looking
statements’’ within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United
States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but are based
on certain assumptions of management and describe the company’s
future plans, strategies and expectations. Forward-looking
statements generally can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology, including, but not limited to, “may,”
“could,” “seek,” “guidance,” “predicts,” “potential,” “likely,”
“believe,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,: “estimate,” “plan,”
“intends,” “forecast” or variations of these terms and similar
expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar
expressions.
Forward-looking statements contained in this
press release are based on information presently available to us
and assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, but are
inherently uncertain. As a result, our actual results,
performance or achievements may differ materially from those
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, which are
not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases,
beyond our control.
You are cautioned that all such statements
involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation,
risks that the legacy businesses of Globe and FerroAtlántica will
not be integrated successfully or that we will not realize
estimated cost savings, value of certain tax assets, synergies and
growth, or that such benefits may take longer to realize than
expected. Important factors that may cause actual results to
differ include, but are limited to: (i) risks relating to
unanticipated costs of integration, including operating costs,
customer loss and business disruption being greater than expected;
(ii) our organizational and governance structure; (iii) the ability
to hire and retain key personnel; (iv) regional, national or global
political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory
conditions including, among others, changes in metals prices; (v)
availability and increases in the cost of raw materials, (vi) cost
of energy; (vii) competition in the metals and foundry industries;
(viii) environmental and regulatory risks; (ix) ability to identify
liabilities associated with acquired properties prior to their
acquisition; (x) ability to manage price and operational risks
including industrial accidents and natural disasters; (xi) ability
to manage foreign operations; (xii) changes in technology; (xiii)
ability to acquire or renew permits and approvals; (xiv) changes in
legislation or governmental regulations affecting Ferroglobe; (xv)
conditions in the credit markets; (xvi) risks associated with
assumptions made in connection with critical accounting estimates
and legal proceedings; (xvii) Ferroglobe's international
operations, which are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations
and foreign exchange controls; (xviii) the potential of
international unrest; and (xix) the effect of tax assessments, tax
adjustments, anticipated tax rates, or other regulatory compliance
costs. The foregoing list is not exhaustive. You should
carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and
uncertainties that affect our business, including those described
in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Reports on Form 20-F,
Current Reports on Form 6-K and other documents we file from time
to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
We do not give any assurance (1) that we will achieve our
expectations or (2) concerning any result or the timing thereof, in
each case, with respect to any regulatory action, administrative
proceedings, government investigations, litigation, warning
letters, consent decree, cost reductions, business strategies,
earnings or revenue trends or future financial results.
All information in this press release is as of
the date of its release. We do not undertake or assume any
obligation to update publicly any of the forward-looking statements
in this press release to reflect actual results, new information or
future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors
affecting forward-looking statements. If we update one or more
forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we
will make additional updates with respect to those or other
forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made only as
of the date of this press release.
INVESTOR CONTACT:
Ferroglobe PLC
Joe Ragan, US: +1 917 209 8581, UK: +44 (0) 7827 227 688
Chief Financial Officer
Email: jragan@ferroglobe.com
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