Santa Barbara and Indra explore how to make peace for defense contracts

MadridThe defense company Santa Bárbara, a subsidiary of the North American General Dynamics, maintains its legal battle at the National Court against the allocation of a part of the Spanish government's contracts to strengthen the military and defense industry in the State. This Wednesday, the company presented its appeal to the National Court regarding the resolutions that awarded two contracts from the Spanish government's Special Modernization Programs (PEM): the ATP Wheels contract and the ATP Tracks contract, according to company sources. Both contracts amounted to 7.24 billion euros and were awarded to the temporary joint venture formed by Indra and Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E).

This legal battle opened a dispute with these companies, especially with Indra, which aims to be the leading company in the defense sector in the State. However, things could change. Santa Bárbara and Indra are exploring how to make peace and what possible avenues for industrial collaboration can be opened. If successful, the appeal that the company presented this Wednesday could be withdrawn, as the executives of the General Dynamics subsidiary have pointed out on more than one occasion.

The two companies are holding conversations, according to Santa Bárbara sources, with the aim of "uniting the sector, generating synergies, and leveraging all existing industrial and technological capabilities in Spain," the same sources add. Santa Bárbara itself acknowledges that the appeal presented this Wednesday is procedural: the legally established deadline to challenge the awards before the courts was met, and it had to be filed if the technical course of the process was to be followed. In any case, Santa Bárbara expresses confidence in the results of the ongoing conversations.

the two executives will undergo a first examinationAt Indra, the two new faces who are to lead this understanding are new. The controversy began when Ángel Escribano was still president and José Vicente de los Mozos CEO. But now the company is led by the Catalan Àngel Simón, as non-executive chairman since April, and Josep Maria Recasens, who as of this Wednesday has taken over the position of number two as CEO with executive functions. Recasens was appointed on May 28.

Beyond how this journey with Santa Bárbara, which has blocked more than 7 billion euros of public money that the government wants to allocate to defense, ends, the two executives will undergo a first examination on June 30. Indra will hold its general shareholders' meeting, which will have to ratify the two appointments.