UK Filing Suggests Abengoa Repaid Margin Loan

Troubled Spanish energy company Abengoa may already have repaid a US$200m two-year margin loan it took out just four months ago using a stake in its yieldco as collateral.

A filing with UK Companies House dated October 15 appears to indicate that the charge, taken by Abengoa Concession Investment Ltd on June 29, has been "paid or satisfied" in full.

Abengoa did not respond to several requests for comment, and the company has not made any recent statement about the status of the loan.

"There's no disclosure around this anywhere else," one hedge fund investor who also saw the Companies House filing told IFR.

"Their liquidity is very tight at the moment, so you have to wonder how and why they repaid it."

Several other investors also said it appeared that the loan, which was initially secured with a 14% stake of Abengoa Yield as collateral, had been repaid.

Abengoa is in the midst of preparing a 650m rights issue to shore up its balance sheet.

Even though it has got underwriting commitments from its major creditors, however, its high-yield bonds are still trading at deeply distressed levels.

(Reporting by Robert Smith)