Escribano resigns as president of Indra and the Government chooses Ángel Simón as his substitute | Economy | EUROtoday

This Wednesday afternoon, Ángel Escribano introduced his resignation as president of the protection firm Indra in a rare board of administrators. The firm’s prime govt has stepped apart two weeks after the mixing between his household agency, Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E), and Indra itself, of which he owns 14%, was cancelled. The Government had requested to finish Escribano’s battle of curiosity earlier than shifting ahead with the operation. To exchange him, the general public Sociedad Estado de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), the corporate’s important shareholder, has proposed the previous CEO of Criteria Caixa, Ángel Simón, sources near the corporate have assured.

“The events of recent weeks have generated a situation that, in addition to personal wear and tear, threatens to compromise the objectives that drove me from day one and that I consider essential for the future of Indra and the sector. Faithful to the values ​​of responsibility and loyalty that I have always defended, I cannot allow my continuity to interfere with the stability of the company, its professionals and the trust of its investors,” Escribano stated in a letter despatched to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

The businessman, in flip, recalled that the target of his presidency, which has lasted only one yr and three months, has been to “position the company as the main engine of the defense industry.” In this sense, it created the Indra Land Vehicles division, a division centered on land navy platforms, the place the Executive assigned it juicy contracts comparable to the brand new artillery on wheels and chains or the bridge launcher for the Army. “I have faced this challenge with a deep sense of responsibility, always acting from loyalty, constant work and personal commitment, fully convinced of the strategic relevance of Indra,” he acknowledged.

In his farewell, the supervisor indicated that his departure has been a “deeply considered decision” and that he feels “proud” of what he has achieved within the firm. “I would like to conclude by sincerely thanking the support I have received from the board of directors and the company’s extraordinary team of professionals, whose commitment has been decisive at this stage,” added the businessman.

Within the board, along with SEPI and its 28%, the supervisor had the Basque firm Sapa towards him, an organization that has 7.94% of Indra and a seat on the board. For its half, Amber Capital —important shareholder of the Prisa group, writer of EL PAÍS and CincoDías—, which has 5% of Indra and a seat on the board, was all the time in favor of the Escribano and the mixing with EM&E. In addition to resigning as president, the supervisor may even stop to be a member of the board of administrators.

Until now, Ángel Escribano had resisted stress from the Government to step other than an organization that is known as to be the nationwide protection champion that pulls the remainder of the sector on the top of European rearmament. The supervisor was even summoned to the Moncloa Palace to persuade him to resign, however he determined to proceed shielded by the assist he has from the shareholders, who don’t forget that the corporate grew essentially the most final yr of the whole Ibex 35, with a rise of 184%. In reality, final week, in the course of the award ceremony for the Ibex 35 Executive of the yr awarded FiveDaysEscribano identified that the market “supports” his plan.

The name for the extraordinary council was introduced at midday this Wednesday, with the resignation of Escribano as the principle challenge to be mentioned. This brought on the corporate to expertise a day of excessive volatility within the markets, with an abrupt drop as quickly because the information was heard, which then rotated to shut with an increase of three.13%.

An sudden departure

The place of the outgoing president will probably be occupied by Ángel Simón. This is the previous CEO of Criteria Caixa, a place he held between January 2024 and April 2025, a departure that was then an sudden transfer for the market. Simón was answerable for piloting the strategic flip of the holding investor, with important acquisitions in strategic firms for the State.

Since his substitute at Criteria, his candidacy had been strongly instructed to guide an organization managed by the State, given his fluid relationship with the present Executive. In reality, Simón was one of many individuals within the Moncloa assembly by which the previous president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-Pallete, then representing the La Caixa holding firm, was fired. Paradoxically, at that assembly in the beginning of January 2025, Manuel de la Rocha, the top of financial affairs of the President of the Government, was additionally current, one of many important individuals concerned each in Escribano’s arrival at Indra and now in his departure.

In addition to Simón, the present CEO of Indra, José Vicente de los Mozos, who had distanced himself tremendously from Escribano for the reason that starting of the yr because the confrontation with the SEPI turned extra evident, had additionally been instructed as potential candidates. In reality, De los Mozos had assured in February that the operation would already be accomplished if Escribano weren’t the president of Indra. The former Renault supervisor is a person nearer to the PP than to the PSOE, one thing that distances him from being an possibility for the Government. Another identify was that of Raül Blanco, a person exterior the council, who’s at the moment answerable for Sapa’s technique. Previously, he had been president of Renfe, in addition to common secretary of Industry and SMEs between 2018 and 2022.