ICA borrows US$215 mln from Martinez's Fintech, shares soar

Embattled Mexican construction firm ICA said it will borrow US$215 million from financier David Martinez's vehicle Fintech, as it unveiled a preliminary restructuring plan that offered few details on how it would cope with its heavy debt load.

Shares in ICA jumped more than 26 percent on Friday after the company announced the loan and said it would exit international concession projects it had yet to begin, limiting construction to Mexican operations in future.

The 3-year convertible loan with Fintech has a 16 percent interest rate secured by shares in ICA, which has struggled to pay off dollar-denominated debt as the Mexican peso dipped sharply against the greenback in the past 18 months.

"Post-restructuring, ICA will assess investing in new concessions, although no such investments are reflected in the business plan," the company said in a statement.

The ICA plan includes winding down its international business and housing and real estate operations, but did not detail how it aimed to cope with the debt that has prompted it to default on millions of dollars in interest payments.

The Mexico City-based firm has failed to post a profit since 2013 and struggled to find new work in recent months.

For months Martinez has been rumored to be in talks with ICA, which was once a poster child for Mexican construction.

Renowned as an expert in distressed loans, publicity-shy Martinez also bought debt in Mexico's Vitro during the legal battle over the glassmaker's restructuring, which ended in 2013.

ICA's business plan said that in the near future, expansion of its concession division will be limited to completing the Palmillas-Apaseo El Grande toll road that crosses the central Mexican states of Querétaro and Guanajuato.

The document also said ICA aimed to continue ownership of the controlling shares in Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMA), in which it has recently sold some B shares.

The company also noted that projected dividends included those from a partly owned water treatment plant, projects in Latin America, interests in other concessions, and OMA.