The State supports the change in Indra's bylaws to allow it to manufacture military vehicles.

MadridIndra takes a step further on its way to consolidating itself as the Spanish "champion" of the defense sector and is launching a full-fledged entry into the military business. This Thursday, the company's general shareholders' meeting, with the State as the largest shareholder with 28% of the share capital through SEPI, approved the amendment to the company's bylaws to introduce the military business as one of the company's areas of activity. The underlying objective is to grow in the military vehicle manufacturing segment, but also in the space business. "With the approval of its shareholders, Indra has amended its bylaws to allow the development, manufacture, and marketing of military land vehicles, devices, and air and space vehicles, among others, in accordance with its strategic plan," the company emphasized in a press release.

The change to Indra's bylaws follows the acquisition of Hispasat, the Spanish satellite operator, which includes Hisdesat, the subsidiary linked to the military business. But it also follows the creation of the subsidiary Indra Land Vehicles, dedicated to the production of armored vehicles. In fact, Indra has just closed a preliminary agreement to acquire the Duro Felguera plant, known as El Tallerón, in Gijón (Asturias), for €3.6 million. Its objective is to convert the factory and produce military armored vehicles. In addition, it also took control of Tess Defence, the company that manufactures armored vehicles for the Spanish army, in addition to being awarded the contract for the production of support vehicles, two contracts valued at approximately €2 billion, as detailed by Europa Press.. The company is also seeking to acquire a stake in the Italian group Iveco's military armored vehicle subsidiary.

New subsidiary dedicated to weapons

However, the company's president, Ángel Escribano, has announced the launch of a new business area dedicated to weapons and called Indra Weapon & Ammunition. This new subsidiary will focus on developing guidance capabilities in unmanned and directed energy systems, but also on anti-drone and platform self-defense systems, such as armored vehicles.

"The weapons market is acquiring significant strategic relevance, as demonstrated by the conflict in Ukraine, where spending is estimated at over €11 billion on technologies such as drones," said Escribano. Thus, Indra ratifies the commitment it has been pursuing for some time: to gain strength in the defense sector, and in particular military activity, in the midst of Europe's rearmament and at a time when states are expected to open the tap of public spending, especially to reach this week's NATO agreement in which the allies have dedicate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035.

In this sense, Indra is also looking to expand in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and Indra's CEO, José Vicente de los Mozos, has announced that the company is "exploring" opening an office in Kiev, Ukraine.

Signings

In addition to the appointment of Monserrat García, former advisor to Josep Borrell in Brussels, as chief of staff to the company's president and CEO, i.e., Ángel Escribano and José Vicente de los Mozos, respectively, Indra has also appointed Eva Fernández Góngora and Oriol Pinya Salomó (FemCat) as independent directors.