Chronicle of a divorce at La Caixa

Barcelona / MadridOn April 16, just before the Easter holidays, something unusual occurred at La Caixa, the country's leading business conglomerate. The group chaired by Isidre Fainé is a world of "teamwork, with visible leaders, but without too much obsession with notoriety, and even less so with that related to conflicts," explain sources familiar with the universe of Miró's star.

That's why it was so surprising that, through a statement, Criteria—the investment arm of the La Caixa Foundation, both chaired by Fainé—corrected its own press release published a few days earlier. In this second statement, it softened a statement from April 2 in which it announced that the board of directors had approved an "agreement in principle." to enter the capital of the steel company CelsaThe company with the largest portfolio of business holdings in Spain denied its claim by stating: "CriteriaCaixa wishes to clarify that the possible acquisition of Celsa's capital is still being studied by the company's management and executive team, with no specific details so far. This operation remains under analysis., as is the case with others that are analyzed in the course of CriteriaCaixa's usual investment activity."

Not even two weeks later, last Tuesday, two days after the historic blackout, La Caixa caused an earthquake in the Catalan and Spanish business sector. It announced that dispensed with the CEO of Criteria, Àngel Simón, less than 15 months after appointing him. It also added Naturgy's executive chairman, Francisco Reynés, as a board member to fill the vacancy. Reynés will soon be appointed executive vice president of the company, which manages a portfolio of more than €30 billion. It was also learned that another person involved in the Celsa transaction, the steelmaker's non-executive chairman, Rafael Villaseca, was moving to the same position at Veolia, the French firm that owns Agbar. Criteria holds a 5% stake in the French group. for a few weeks now, after having unsuccessfully tried to acquire Agbar, which it finally left in 2014, by selling the last stake it had in Suez, now Veolia.

The commitment to Celsa "was the straw that broke the camel's back," explain sources familiar with the deteriorating relationship between Fainé and Simón. The president considered the steel company's business to be a business that fits very little with his investment strategy. Hence his anger when the investment was considered a done deal and also the "clarification" statement sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), according to these sources. Furthermore, CaixaBank, of which La Caixa is the main shareholder through Criteria, was, along with Santander, BBVA, and Sabadell, one of the group's creditors. Celsa passed from the hands of the Rubiralta family to those of the funds, who bought its debt following a landmark court ruling.

The changes at Criteria's top management have been the final outcome of Simón's term, who until recently was considered a close confidant of Fainé. Several sources accuse him of surrounding himself with executives from Agbar, a company he had chaired, and of having pursued his own agenda and close relations with the governments of Pedro Sánchez and Salvador Illa, which aroused Fainé's suspicions. Sources familiar with the deteriorating relationship between the two assert that "there has been no fit between Fainé and Simon." "Things hadn't been going well for days, and the latest transactions weren't in line with the philosophy Fainé advocates," they say. Illustratively, another source explains that "there are marriages that last 40 years and others that last only one." And this has been an example.

One indicator that the rupture hasn't been as usual at La Caixa is the short period of time that has passed since Simón was appointed. Typically, changes at La Caixa take longer. This happened with Marcelino Armenter, whom Simón replaced in January of last year. He was CEO of Criteria from 2013 to 2023, and CEO from 2019 to 2024. Or with Juan Maria Nin, number two at La Caixa from 2007 to 2014. Or with Jaume Giró, current Junts MP and former Minister of Economy, who joined the La Caixa group as the second CaixaBank. He was also CEO of the La Caixa Foundation from 2014 to 2019, when the relationship with the president broke down.

In any case, it has become clear that Fainé—whose term at the head of the foundation that controls the entire group ends in February 2026, when he will be 84—did not want Simón to emerge as his possible successor. "He's a great manager, but he has his own way of doing things," which has not resonated with the president, according to sources consulted. In any case, during his time at the helm, Simón has reawakened a Criteria that had fallen asleep in recent years, with a strategic plan through 2030 and more dynamic investment, but towards a direction and style that have been moving away from Fainé's.

The president of La Caixa, who promoted The return of the Foundation's headquarters and Criteria to Barcelona In March, he was very uncomfortable with the synchronicity that had recently existed between the operations directed by Simón (close to a branch of the PSC) and the desires of the Sánchez and Isla governments. In addition to the Celsa case – with Criteria playing the role of savior of a major industry in Catalonia and Spain, which was a relief for both socialist presidents – there have been other precedents that have contributed to blowing up the relationship.

One of the most important facts that bothered Fainé was the increase in Criteria's weight in Telefónica's shareholding to counterbalance the arrival of the Saudis from STC in the company's capital. telecommunicationsAnd, especially, the appointment of Marc Murtra, another executive considered close to the Socialists, to head the operator. The dismissal of José María Álvarez-Pallete as president of Telefónica, an executive highly regarded by the president of La Caixa and a patron of the Foundation since 2022, also displeased Fainé, who is not a big fan of political interference.

The Foundation's new executive vice president, Francisco Reynés, is considered less politically motivated than his predecessor. Some claim that Fainé had been naming him as his favorite for years. In any case, this 62-year-old industrial engineer from Mallorca brings "political neutrality" and a profile as an "independent professional manager," explain those who know him. He is accustomed to maintaining good relations with all political parties, as he controls businesses in many autonomous regions. A good clue about the choice for Reynés was his appointment as patron of the Foundation on April 3The executive will fill the vice-presidency vacated by notary Juan José López Burniol at Criteria, who resigned in December and was another of Fainé's inner circle until then.

Fainé's men

The chairman of La Caixa noticed Reynés when he was CEO of the cement company Uniland, in early 2000. At 43 years old, he proposed him as director general of resources of the former Gas Natural in 2006. It only took him a year to put him in charge of managing Criteria CaixaCorp, from which he oversaw his departure. "The company," explain those who know him. In his new position, the executive will coincide with other important people in the group with whom he worked at Abertis, a company he transformed when it was still owned by La Caixa and from which he spun off the telecommunications business with the creation of Cellnex. One of them is Josep Maria Coronas, general director of the Foundation Since January, a position he combines with that of secretary of the board of trustees and of the board of directors of Criteria.

At Naturgy—where Reynés will continue as executive chairman, and in fact will only be paid for that position—they assure that the energy company will occupy a good part of his time. They also say that he has not been proposed for the position at Criteria or as Fainé's successor, although "he is one of the heavyweights in the chairman's inner circle." What happens in the future, only time will tell, they assure.