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%).

The board of directors of Criteria, the investment arm of the La Caixa Foundation, has promoted its current general manager, José María Méndez, to the position of CEO, making him a member of the company's governing body. He was appointed CEO Last May, after a stint as assistant to the former CEO of CriteriaCaixa, Angel Simonwho was dismissed. This appointment, which completes the restructuring of the company's leadership, represents recognition of the work of this executive, who is responsible for the day-to-day management of Criteria, according to sources within the organization. The accounts for the past year were also approved, showing a net profit of €2.325 billion, a 120% increase thanks to numerous extraordinary results during the year. At the same time, the Foundation's board of trustees appointed IESE professor Nuria Chinchilla, venture capital expert Julia Salaverría, and auditor Xavier Brossa as independent directors of Criteria. They replace José Antonio Asiaín, Marcos Contreras, and Jean-Louis Chaussade, who have completed their 12-year terms and, therefore, lose their independent status, according to the organization's bylaws. Following these measures, the 25-member board "achieves 40% female representation on the holding company's highest governing body," according to the company.

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.

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."

A shift in priorities. Criteria, La Caixa's investment arm, plans to have an investment capacity of up to €8 billion in companies and funds and will make up to €4 billion in dividends available to its parent company, the La Caixa Foundation, for social programs, research, scholarships, and culture between now and 2030. These are the pillars of Criteria, which holds the largest portfolio of corporate holdings in Spain, valued at over €37 billion. The company, chaired by Isidre Fainé, like the foundation, "will focus its investments on projects centered on obtaining recurring, sustainable, and responsible returns. It will also promote value creation in its portfolio companies with a long-term vision." The holding company's priority, which will maintain a 30% stake in CaixaBank, is "to preserve and increase the Foundation's assets."

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.

CriteriaCaixa, the investment holding company of the La Caixa Foundation, closed June with one of its busiest half-year transactions in recent memory. On an operational level, with the acquisition of Veolia and the reversal of its foray into Catalan companies. Europastry and Celsa, and in the management field, with the premature departure of Àngel Simón and the arrival of Naturgy's executive chairman, Francisco Reynés, as executive vice president.

Neither did Europastry. The other investment announced by Àngel Simón—the former CEO of Criteria, the investment arm of the La Caixa Foundation, who was dismissed a few weeks ago—has been definitively rejected by the current team, of which Francisco Reynés, executive chairman of Naturgy, is the first vice president.

The La Caixa Foundation plans to increase its social work budget to €800 million by 2030, up from €655 million in the current year, and invest a total of €4 billion over the next five years, according to the new 2025-2030 strategic plan unveiled today. This roadmap aims to "drive social transformation and respond to the challenges of the coming years" under the motto Believe to transformThe entity will focus its activities on three pillars: social, research and scholarship, and culture. In this new phase, the explicit mandate is for the foundation and its investment arm, Criteria, to act "in a coherent and coordinated manner," even strengthening "shared governance" after a change in management.

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.

CriteriaCaixa, the investment holding company of the La Caixa group, continues its reshuffle at the top. Since the dismissal of Àngel Simón as Isidre Fainé's right-hand man was announced last week, there has been a steady stream of new developments at the company. Now it's José María Méndez's turn, who will become the company's new CEO. Furthermore, former La Vanguardia editor Màrius Carol and former FC Barcelona executive Gerard Guiu have joined the board of Movistar+, and the Catalan government has appointed a new Director General of Industry.

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.

The major earthquake in management changes has been dominated this week by the news of Ángel Simón's departure 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. Beyond this move, former Congress president Meritxell Batet returns to the headlines by joining Ebro Foods, the president of Celsa will also become president of Veolia Spain, and a Mango veteran is leaving. These are the week's key signings.

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.

"I was surprised; he was appointed not long ago," a senior representative of Catalan civil society told ARA. "It was a long-awaited appointment when he landed at Criteria," adds this source, who worked with Àngel Simón for several years. In fact, this is the majority opinion of those consulted by this newspaper regarding this major news: Simón's premature dismissal as CEO of Criteria. "What are you saying? Did this happen today?" asks another representative of civil society. Surprise, a year later, is mixed with disbelief.

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.

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.