The State is seeking support on the board of directors to change the chairmanship of Indra

BarcelonaThe Spanish government is maintaining its standoff with Indra's president, Ángel Escribano. The dispute between the company's two main shareholders—the State, through SEPI, with 28% of the capital, and the Escribano brothers, owners of Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E), with 14.3%—continues ahead of the ordinary board meeting scheduled for this Wednesday. This meeting will take place after the Escribanos attempted to stem the pressure from the Spanish government by shelving the proposed merger of Indra with their family company.

They did so in an extraordinary board meeting the day after SEPI (the Spanish State Holding Company) stated its desire to resolve the conflict of interest they believe arises from the Escribano family acting as both judge and jury in this business transaction, despite excluding themselves from the analysis of the deal. The objective of the merger was to create a "champion" of the Spanish defense sector, and there was concern at Moncloa Palace (the Prime Minister's residence) about losing control to EM&E, the Escribano family business, which has appreciated in recent years to between €1 billion and €2 billion thanks to its potential connection with Indra. The Spanish government is seeking a majority on the company's 15-member governing body to force Escribano to relinquish the executive chairmanship, which he has held with majority support since January of last year, when he replaced Marc Murtra, the current chairman of Telefónica. However, despite being the main shareholder, SEPI does not currently have sufficient support. It is assumed that the public company can count on the support of the Basque industrial group SAPA, which controls 7.9% of the capital and has Jokin Aperribay as a board member. Escribano, for his part, would have at least Amber Capital on his side, with 7.24%, the company of Frenchman Joseph Oughourlian, the main shareholder of Prisa (publisher of The Country), and is at odds with Pedro Sánchez's government. He is represented on the council by Pablo Jiménez de Parga.

The side the independent directors choose will be key in the struggle between the two main shareholders. The State, which has unsuccessfully tried to get Escribano to resign voluntarily, hopes to convince a good number of the board members, which would mean 8 of the 15. Besides the vice president, Virginia Arce, other independent directors are Belén Amatriain, Teresa Busto, María Aránzazu Díaz Lladó, Eva María Fernández Góngora, José Oriol Piña, and Bernardo Villazán. In total, six members (the vice president and five others). SEPI has three representatives on the board: the former Minister of Industry and former head of the economic office of former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Miguel Sebastián; Antonio Cuevas, former Socialist deputy; and the former Socialist candidate for mayor of Pamplona, ​​Juan Moscoso del Prado. The Escribano family holds two positions: that of executive chairman, Ángel, and another for his brother, Javier, who is also the chairman of EM&E. Both brothers control their stake in Indra through the company Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing. Also on the board is the CEO, José Vicente de los Mozos, responsible for managing the operation with the Escribano family's company. He has held the position since 2023, when Marc Murtra was the group's chairman. The various central governments have always nominated the chairman of Indra, as was the case with Fernando Abril Martorell, from 2015 to 2021, nominated by Mariano Rajoy (PP), and Marc Murtra – linked to the PSC –, from 2021 to 2025, nominated by the government.

Yesterday, Indra's shares experienced another session of losses, falling by more than 5% but closing down 2.93% at €48.68. This situation has also prompted a reaction from workers' representatives. The CCOO union branch expressed its "firm concern" in a statement regarding the current developments. "Indra is not just another company. It is a key player in building the technological sovereignty of Spain and Europe, especially in critical areas such as security and defense," the union stated. Therefore, it considers it "unacceptable that dynamics are being promoted that generate instability, uncertainty, and institutional weakening within the company." "These types of actions are not neutral: they have direct consequences on the credibility of the project, on market confidence, and especially on employment and the associated industrial fabric," it concluded.

The Indra and EM&E merger began to be analyzed last year. Although it had been discussed extensively, sources close to the Spanish government claim that it wasn't until the end of January that a decision was made on how to approach the deal. And then the issue of conflict of interest arose. In fact, this aspect had already drawn criticism from some board members, such as Olga San Jacinto and Coloma Armero, who ultimately left the board. Finally, it was decided that a decision would be made once the 2025 financial statements and audits of both companies were available. Another point agreed upon was that José Vicente de los Mozos, the CEO, would be in charge of managing everything related to the operation.