Ángel Simón, president of Indra

MadridA 180-degree turn at the technology and defense company Indra. Former La Caixa executive Ángel Simón has been appointed new president of Indra following the resignation of Ángel Escribano – a term that lasted just over a year – as the company informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) early Thursday. Simón's nomination was made by the Spanish government through the State Industrial Holdings Company (SEPI), its investment arm, which is Indra's largest shareholder with 28% of the share capital.

In fact, the change in presidency comes after weeks marked by growing tension between Ángel Escribano and SEPI following the failed integration operation between Indra and the Escribano group, a company also involved in defense. While Ángel Escribano defended it, the Spanish government ended up seeing a conflict of interest. Therefore, the resignation of this executive has also been interpreted as a forced dismissal by the government of Pedro Sánchez. All this was communicated after two tortuous board meetings held this Wednesday throughout the afternoon, until midnight.

Let's take it step by step. After firmly defending his permanence as president, this Wednesday afternoon Ángel Escribano resigned, as the company reported in a statement to the CNMV. Escribano, who also renounces being a counselor, communicated the decision in an extraordinary board of directors meeting held the same afternoon. "The board of directors has noted the valuable contribution and leadership [of Ángel] Escribano as executive president [of the company]," Indra highlighted in a statement.

By stepping aside, Indra, which aspires to be the "champion" of the defense sector in the State, set in motion the process to choose a successor. And SEPI, the company's main shareholder, made a quick move. The entity proposed the name of the former CEO of Criteria Caixa, Ángel Simón, as reported by La Vanguardia and confirmed by ARA. His definitive election, however, depended on the board of directors. The governing body communicated the green light for the replacement at a quarter past three this Thursday morning.

Connection with the socialist orbit

Angel Simon had been part of the speculation since Angel Escribano's name was hanging by a thread, precisely after weeks of tug-of-war with the Spanish government. As stated previously, the reason for the standoff was the integration –now on hold– between Indra and the Madrid-based group Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E). This company is not only a shareholder of Indra with 14.3% of the share capital, but Angel Escribano is the founder along with his brother, Javier Escribano. After SEPI publicly acknowledged its concern about a possible conflict of interest (although until recently it had not opposed it), Escribano was placed in the crosshairs: his departure was the only way to resolve the conflict.

But the choice of Angel Simon is not just any choice. It is known that the former CEO of La Caixa's investment holding and, therefore, Isidre Fainé's number two between 2014 and 2015, is very well connected with the socialist orbit. In fact, as the ARA explained, different business sources indicated that this rapport with the current government of Pedro Sánchez is what had ended up costing Simon dearly and what explained his precipitate departure from Criteria Caixa. Simon's “imprudence,” business sources explained to the ARA, coupled with a “crescendo distrust” towards him from Isidre Fainé, proved decisive in his dismissal.

This alignment between Indra and the government of the day is nothing new –when Angel Simon was at Criteria Caixa, he defended, precisely, the need to invest in defense–. Beyond shareholding, it must be taken into account that Indra lives, mainly, from contracts with the Ministry of Defense, especially in a context of European and Spanish rearmament. A similar stir occurred in 2020, when Catalan Marc Murtra, current president of Telefónica, landed at Indra as non-executive chairman. His predecessor, however, also carried the political label: Fernando Abril-Martorell was appointed by Mariano Rajoy (PP) in 2015. In fact, the paradox is that while Angel Escribano leaves his position as president of Indra after the disagreement with Moncloa, it was the same government of Pedro Sánchez who sponsored his appointment in January 2025 to replace Murtra.

However, Simón will be non-executive chairman of the company, unlike Escribano, who did have this power. In this way, executive functions are left in the hands of Indra's CEO, José Vicente de los Mozos, who continues, as the company has reported. This separation has already existed in other stages and in fact is usually the usual one in most Ibex-35 companies. For example, Murtra was chairman of Indra for three years without executive functions.

De los Mozos is, in fact, the one who had the task of unblocking the integration between Indra and the Escribano group and that SEPI even considered "blocking" if the conflict of interest was not "resolved". Escribano has left without this being resolved and the unblocking from now on can be handled by Ángel Simón.

End of the Escribano era

Until this Wednesday, Escribano had clung to the presidency of Indra. Just a week ago, he defended that he had the support of investors: "The market supports my plan," he stated while receiving the Executive of the Year award from the Ibex-35, awarded by Cinco Días, a publication of Prisa (publisher of El País), where the main shareholder is Joseph Oughourlian's fund, Amber Capital, which in turn controls 7.24% of the defense company.

"The events of recent weeks have generated a situation that, in addition to personal desgaste, threatens to compromise the objectives that drove me from day one [to be president of Indra] and that I consider essential for the future of Indra and the sector. True to the values of responsibility and loyalty that I have always defended, I cannot allow my continuation to interfere with the stability of the company, its professionals, and the confidence of its investors," Escribano said in a letter published with the CNMV.

The until now president of Indra says that Wednesday's decision was "deeply considered." "These days have allowed me to order my thoughts, calmly assess this stage, and feel proud and grateful," recounts Escribano, who concludes the letter with gratitude for the "support" of the board of directors and the company's team.

Majority of the board?

The unknown of Àngel Simón has been resolved when a majority of the members of the board of directors, which has 15 representatives, have supported the proposal of SEPI, an entity chaired by Belén Gualda. It has not transpired, for now, if SEPI has obtained unanimity.

The public body has three seats, but the rest are distributed among the Escribano group (14.3% of the share capital, with two seats on the board); the Basque defense company SAPA (7.9% of the capital and one seat); Amber Capital (7.2% of the capital; one seat) and the rest of the directors, up to fifteen, are independent. The latter have been key to obtaining the majority.

All in all, in this race for Indra to be the flagship of the defense sector in the State, as Moncloa wants, the Escribanos will continue to play a relevant role, for now. Of the latest loans that the Spanish government has awarded within the framework of the increase in public defense spending, an important part goes to projects that Indra and EM&M share because they were submitted jointly. Only until the end of 2025 were we talking about more than 3,100 million euros.