The Government has made official what was an open secret: its dissatisfaction with the governance of Indra in the midst of the integration process with EM&E. The State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI), Indra’s main shareholder with 28% of Indra, has asked Indra to resolve the “conflict of interest” existing in the operation it is analyzing with Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E) in order to continue analyzing it and adopt a decision.
He has requested it through a communication that he sent to Indra and that was signed by the president of SEPI, Belén Gualda, as reported this Wednesday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
In the communication, it is not explained what “conflict of interest” it refers to, although it concerns Ángel Escribano, president of Indra, who owns EM&E, along with his brother Javier, also a director of Indra.
The objective, according to the SEPI communication, is “to be able to continue the analysis of the operation and adopt a decision on it that is most advantageous for Indra.”
Indra shares lost more than 4% in the early stages of trading this Thursday. Around 10:00, the company’s shares fell 4.21%, reaching 54.6 euros, being one of the values that lost the most on the Ibex 35.
Pedro Sánchez: “The SEPl is working with Indra to resolve it”
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has stated that SEPI works with the defense and technology company to resolve the “alleged problem of conflict of interest” that has arisen in the company. “This is an issue that has to do with an alleged problem of conflict of interest and it is SEPI who is working at Indra on this issue,” Sánchez said in response to the press upon his arrival at the European Council, Europa Press reports.
For her part, the first vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, has stated that this conflict of interest is not something that “was not in the origin, from the part that we knew”, in reference to when the Government gave its approval to the appointment of Ángel Escribano as president of Indra. Both Escribano and the CEO of Indra, José Vicente de los Mozos, maintain the opposite.
The SEPI has sent the multinational its “concern about the influence that the conflict of interest is having on the analysis” of a possible integration between the company and EM&E, “despite the mitigation measures put in place”, such as the creation of a commission for this independent to deal with the operation and the absence of the Escribano brothers from the council when the matter is discussed.
The public company considers that a possible transaction with EM&E “should not be conceived as an instrument to resolve the conflict of interest, nor should it be influenced by it.” “On the contrary, this conflict should be cleared up before undertaking the analysis of the operation,” he explained.
Indra will hold its ordinary board of directors on March 25. Although the agenda is not publicly known, everything indicates that this operation will be discussed therein. The Government would like to reach said council with this issue resolved.
Despite pressure from the Executive, the president of Indra this week had no intention of leaving the position he holds in the Spanish multinational, since he considers that he has the support of both the board of directors and the capital of the company, according to several sources consulted.
Escribano believes that he has been endorsed in his position by more than 98% of the shareholders’ meeting, which was held last year, and that he has no reason to retire.
According to the same sources, the manager has the approval of the different investment funds that have a presence in the firm’s shares, such as Amber –controlled by the French investor Joseph Oughourlian, owner of the Prisa group–, or Third Point, which has already expressed itself in this regard asking that the operation with EM&E go ahead.
Before that date, probably this Friday, Ángel Escribano and the SEPI could hold a meeting to clarify doubts about the director’s future in the defense and technology company, according to other sources consulted by Europa Press.
However, they have clarified that the situation that occurred with the former president of Telefónica José María Álvarez-Pallete, who was summoned in Moncloa to announce his dismissal, is “very different” from that of Escribano. At a time of military escalation worldwide, with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Moncloa prefers a more diplomatic solution. But in addition, Escribano owns 14% of Indra through EM&E, while Álvarez-Pallete did not have any significant representation in the telecom company.
Source: www.eldiario.es
