Ángel Simón (Manresa, 1957) starred in April of last year in one of the most talked-about divorces on the Catalan and Spanish business scene, when he was dismissed as CEO of Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa. A long relationship with the president of La Caixa and Criteria, Isidre Fainé, had been broken. And one of the sparks to end a term that lasted about 15 months was the dismissal of José María Álvarez-Pallete at the head of Telefónica –participated by Criteria–, in agreement with Moncloa by Simón and behind Fainé's back, according to various sources. For a year, Simón, an executive accustomed to dealing with the Spanish and Catalan socialist governments, had disappeared from the public scene. And now he reappears in the midst of a power struggle at Indra, a company destined to lead the defense business, with the State, through SEPI, as the main shareholder (28%).

Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, has taken advantage of GIP-BlackRock's accelerated placement of 11.4% of Naturgy's share capital to strengthen its stake in the energy company. The holding company with the largest portfolio of business investments in Spain acquired 2.5% of this placement, thus reinforcing its position as the largest shareholder with 28.5% of the capital. Criteria invested a total of €611 million in this operation, in which the shares were sold at €25.20. Naturgy, which fell 7.40% on Tuesday to €24.78, is part of Criteria's portfolio of significant investments, along with Telefónica (9.99%), ACS (9.36%), and the French company Veolia (5%), among others. Following this transaction, CVC is the second largest shareholder in Naturgy, with 18.8%. followed by the Australian fund IFM, with 15.169%, the March family's Corporación Financiera Alba, with 5%, and the Algerian company Sonatrach, with 3.85%. Criteria, owned by the La Caixa Foundation, states that the purchase "demonstrates its commitment to Naturgy's future." GIP-Blackrock, which with this placement has exited Naturgy's capital, began its divestment last December, when it placed 7.1% for approximately €1.8 billion. At that time, Criteria, chaired by Isidro Fainé, increased its stake to 26%. With the placement of 11.4% of the energy company's capital, GIP-Blackrock has pocketed €2.791 billion. As a result, the seller, which invested over €3.8 billion in Naturgy's capital, will have received approximately €4.5 billion from the sale of its stake, not including dividends received.

Major real estate deal in Barcelona. InmoCaixa, the real estate arm of La Caixa bank, has closed a deal to buy the Estel building, the largest office building in the Catalan capital. A significant portion of the building is occupied by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The purchase, financed by Bain Capital and Freo Group, amounts to approximately €385 million, according to market sources. This is the largest office building transaction ever completed in Barcelona, ​​according to industry sources consulted by ARA. For comparison, the former Torre Agbar sold for around €140 million, and the former Banc Sabadell building at the intersection of Diagonal and Balmes streets for around €90 million. The Estel building has a surface area of ​​52,000 square meters. CBRE advised InmoCaixa on this transaction. Located at the confluence of Roma Avenue and Mallorca Street, the building is a commercial complex, which formerly housed Telefónica and was left unfinished for quite some time after the project to build a hotel failed. It is currently completely renovated and aimed at "boosting an ecosystem of innovation, science, and talent attraction in the heart of Barcelona," according to the press release announcing the deal.

La Caixa, Spain's largest economic, financial, business, and philanthropic network, has secured its future, at least until 2030. In a move to preserve the independence of the Foundation, the group's parent organization, Isidre Fainé (Manresa, 1942) will remain as chairman for a significant portion of the current administration, whose term ends this week. This continuity and stability, characteristic of the organization, ensures coverage of the strategic plan, which anticipates investing €4 billion by 2030. La Caixa is one of Spain's largest financial institutions, with a market capitalization exceeding €37 billion. Last November, after dismissing CEO Ángel Simón in March, Fainé promoted changes to Criteria's roadmap through 2030 to better align it with the Foundation's interests and objectives. This powerful organization, with its financial, business, and social influence, has been headed by Fainé since 2014, when it ceased to be a savings bank, of which he was also president since 2007. Some sources claim that a key principle is that "Criteria works for the Foundation, not for it."

The doubts have vanished. Isidre Fainé (Manresa, 1942) has been re-elected president of the La Caixa Foundation for another four years. At the same time, Javier Godó (publisher of) has been reappointed as vice president. The VanguardJosé María Álvarez-Pallete (former president of Telefónica), Luis Carreras (lawyer and vice president of the Red Cross in Barcelona), Isabel Estapé (notary), María Isabel Gabarró (notary), Eugeni Gay (lawyer), and Francesc Homs (president of In and president of Nestlé) will continue as board members. In all cases, the re-election approved by the board this Monday is for the statutory four-year term. Furthermore, the 2026 budget for social work increases by more than 8%, to 710 million euros.

The La Caixa Foundation is allocating €250 million to social investment this year, according to an agreement signed this Monday between the foundation's president, Isidre Fainé, and the president of the Generalitat (the Catalan government), Salvador Illa. The previous agreement was for €225 million, representing an increase of approximately 11%. Of the total amount, €99 million will be allocated to the foundation's social programs, especially those aimed at the most vulnerable groups. Funding is also included for cultural and research initiatives, as well as scholarships. The amount agreed upon with the Generalitat is part of the €655 million that La Caixa is allocating to social projects this year, the highest amount in its history. After signing the agreement, Fainé explained that the objective is "to strengthen the most transformative projects, dedicated to promoting equal opportunities." "Another strategic priority is the creation of the CaixaResearch Institute, whose building will be inaugurated in 2026. All these projects are focused on contributing to the progress of Catalonia and the well-being of Catalans in the short, medium, and long term," he stated.

Criteria will distribute a new dividend of 125 million euros, as agreed by the board of trustees of the La Caixa Foundation, its sole shareholder. The amount will be paid within two months of its approval. This remuneration will be added to the 360 million euros distributed this year, bringing the figure to 485 million.

Since the end of the Spanish Civil War, October 1st has been dedicated to honoring General Francisco Franco through "Caudillo Day." As chance would have it, towards the end of the regime, one of the key businessmen of the Franco era, Barcelona native Miquel Mateu Pla, also died on October 1st.

A "prodigious" history. This is how the general director of the La Caixa Foundation, Josep Maria Coronas (Tarragona, 1959), described the institution during a conversation held at the Círculo de Economía with the outgoing president, Jaume Guardiola. This was one of his first public appearances since taking office on January 1st. This state lawyer, a disciple of his father and experienced in both the public and private sectors, defended the foundation's social role. "There is growing inequality and a progressively shrinking middle class. State transfers redistribute wealth, without which poverty would reach 50%, but they don't reach everyone, and a foundation like La Caixa can contribute a drop of water to reduce inequality," he explained.

A new phase for Criteria, the investment arm of the La Caixa Foundation. The holding company has reviewed some of its latest investments, including the Catalan frozen dough manufacturer Europastry, according to a statement released by the company. The Confidential and sources close to the entity confirmed to ARA. This decision comes in the new era of Criteria with Francisco Reynés as first vice president, who took office a few weeks ago after the departure of Àngel Simón as CEO.

Criteria, the investment company of the La Caixa Foundation, has definitively ruled out a stake in the Catalan steel company Celsa, currently owned by the former creditor funds. This investment was one of the factors that precipitated the dismissal of Criteria's former CEO, Àngel Simón. At the same time, the chairman of Naturgy (one of Criteria's main holdings), Francisco Reynés, joined the board and was later appointed first vice president. José María Méndez became CEO.

Criteria will distribute €140 million in dividends to its sole shareholder, the La Caixa Foundation. This dividend, which will be paid over the next two months, is in addition to the dividends paid so far this year. In total, it will have distributed €360 million.

The pieces are falling into place at Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa. The executive committee of the company's board of directors has appointed José María Méndez as the company's new CEO. Until now, Méndez was deputy to CriteriaCaixa's CEO, Ángel Simón, who was dismissed last week. The new senior official will be responsible for the holding company's operational management.

On 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.

Francisco Reynés Massanet (Palma, 1963), the new strongman at CriteriaCaixa, the investment arm of La Caixa (with the largest portfolio of business holdings in Spain), has now established himself as one of the most trusted figures of the Foundation's president, Isidre Fainé. The first sign of this rise for the Naturgy CEO came at the beginning of the month, when Reynés became a trustee of the La Caixa Foundation, the owner of the entire universe of the Miró star and the sole shareholder of Criteria.

Ángel Simón has stepped down as CEO of CriteriaCaixa one year and four months after his appointment. His replacement at the helm of La Caixa's investment arm will be Naturgy's executive chairman, Francisco Reynés, according to the La Caixa Foundation, which owns 100% of the investment holding company Criteria. The Board of Trustees of La Caixa, which Reynés joined as a patron at the beginning of the month, has also agreed to fill the vacancy left on the board by Simón with the appointment of Reynés as a director of CriteriaCaixa, with the aim that the company's board of directors will name him executive vice president in the coming weeks. Simón, who was the president of Agbar, was appointed CEO of CriteriaCaixa in January 2024 and was then considered one of the most trusted men of the president, with whom he shared his hometown of Manresa. Simón's appointment was interpreted in some banking circles as a successor and different voices suggested that he could be the main candidate to replace Fainé, president of the La Caixa Foundation, due to his control over CriteriaCaixa's subsidiaries and, through this company, over CaixaBank, the delegate had to lead CriteriaCaixa's strategic plan, presented last year. Currently, the portfolio of investments reaches €30 billion. The strategic plan aims to reach 2030 with gross assets of €40 billion and become one of the leading investment holding companies in Europe. Fainé, president of the foundation and of Criteria, has emphasized on several occasions that the holding company's strong results allow the La Caixa Foundation, which is funded by dividends from Criteria's holding companies, to have its largest budget in its history in 2025, at €655 million.

Criteria, the investment holding company of the La Caixa Foundation, plans to enter cybersecurity and technology businesses linked to defense in its broadest sense, according to the group's CEO, Àngel Simón.

There was a time when banks had powerful industrial portfolios. An example was Banesto, when Mario Conde was its chairman, which was swallowed up by Santander; or BBVA itself, which had been one of the key shareholders of Telefónica and Gamesa (now part of the Siemens group). When it was a savings bank, La Caixa was—and still is in some cases—the key partner in companies such as Gas Natural (now Naturgy), Agbar, Abertis, and Repsol, and it maintained this vocation, which was frowned upon by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Spain.

New industrial venture from the investment arm of the La Caixa Foundation. CriteriaCaixa has reached an agreement in principle with Celsa Group, Europe's leading producer of low-emission circular steel, to acquire a stake in its capital through a capital increase. The transaction, with which the financial institution makes a clear commitment to one of the largest industries based in Catalonia and will result in approximately 20% of the shares, is expected to close in the coming weeks.

La Caixa, through its investment arm, Criteria, is deepening its strategy of strengthening the local productive fabric, acquiring a 20% stake in the Catalan company Europastry. The transaction, which will involve a disbursement of around €300 million, follows four unsuccessful attempts to go public by the manufacturer of frozen dough for bakeries, a leader in this activity internationally.