Angel Simon (Criteria Caixa): experienced pilot for white water | Companies

The number 13 was not a bad omen for the newly appointed CEO of CriteriaCaixa, Angel Simon (Manresa, 1957). During the 13 years during which the civil engineer served as president of Agbar, the water supply company integrated into the French Veolia group, he demonstrated great ability and waistlines. Stop accumulating merit. At least those needed to manage the CriteriaCaixa business group, owned by the La Caixa Foundation. In the holding company, Simon will have to put all his management skills into practice. There is a huge playing field in front of him. CriteriaCaixa’s strategic portfolio includes stakes in CaixaBank (32.2%), Naturgy (26.7%), The Bank of East Asia (19%), Grupo Financiero Inbursa (9.1%), Cellnex (4.3%) and Telefónica (2.4%). To clarify, the stake has a market value of 26 billion euros in the first half of 2023.

Isidro Faine (Manresa, 1942), the influential, wealthy, experienced and very religious president of Criteria, knows who he has placed on the bridge of a great business ship. Both Feine, re-elected president of Criteria for another four years, and Simon face troubled waters. Changes in the energy company Naturgy after the purchase of shareholder GIP by the giant BlackRock and the arrival of the Saudis from STC to Telefónica, as well as the inclusion of the state in the stake (10%) through SEPI are just two of the current topics. That’s not all. In the corporate and political spheres. But Simon has experience.

The new CEO of CriteriaCaixa, who is not very fond of public presence, knows how to pretend. Something important to avoid getting hit. This was demonstrated two years ago when Agbar changed its controlling shareholder from Suez to Veolia. “We have had a change of shareholders and Veolia, our new shareholder, supports us and makes us much stronger in our actions,” Simon explained. Period and continuation. This is how the market and its managers work. Simon leaves the aquatic group at a key moment, with much of Spain suffering from severe drought and record temperatures. At Agbara, he always championed reuse and the circular economy. With a main key that – at least in the discourse – coincides with the most common political theses: the benefits of cooperation between public and private businesses and the participation of universities and social actors in the discourse.

Ahead of its time

Simon thinks big. Just two years ago he proposed turning Barcelona into center world to make the city an international benchmark for water management. And just a few months ago, he announced his recipe for fighting drought at a public event. “If we can recover and reuse 100% of this scarce resource, together with desalination, groundwater and surface water, it will allow us to overcome the problem of urban drought.” By and large 100% with regeneration of purified water 10% and 25% in the Barcelona metropolitan area.

Thinking big is a trait he shares with his president and compatriot Fane. Think big to achieve big things. Fane, who presented a dissertation on “Collective Strategic Networks” in 1987, in his analysis foresaw the trend towards banking of the banking system, deregulation of financial markets and computerization. The new CEO of Criteria is about developing a new economy, reusing limited resources and coexistence – if beneficial – with public authorities.

Simon knows how government mechanisms work. Advantage. For ten years in the late 1980s, he held various technical and managerial positions in companies and government agencies. He knew all the stages of pre-Olympic Barcelona and managed, on behalf of the socialist Pascual Maragall, the Association of Municipalities of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. A school and a good observatory to understand how a great city can be transformed.

He explains it somewhat on his blog (https://www.angelsimon.com/blog/). “On a personal level,” explains Simon, “I am attracted to cities and the environment in which the people living in them move. As Truman Capote says in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, “I’ve always been drawn to the places I’ve lived, the houses and the neighborhoods.” I like the islands, especially Menorca and Gran Canaria. I love the feeling of individual freedom when reading a good book, especially Ibero-American literature. I like art, aesthetics and civil engineering – these are three things that go hand in hand. And especially I feel a holistic attraction to what I have dedicated part of my life to, namely water.” And business management, one might add.

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