The appearance of Criteria Caixa in ACS capital this Friday took the market by surprise. Having entered Puig, returned to Colonial and climbed Telefonica, eyes were now focused on the next steps that could be taken in Naturgi and/or Talgo. However, the Catalan company, which in 2024 became the protagonist of an unprecedented attack on the Spanish stock market, received a bullet in the ACS chamber, which entails an investment of almost 1 billion euros.
The sponsor of the operation is Isidro Faine. In fact, Criteria’s president has been discussing the move for some time, which would turn the La Caixa Foundation’s investment arm into a second shareholder in the Spanish infrastructure giant and, in the process, revive business relations with Florentino Perez, founder, president and largest shareholder of ACS, which dates back to the beginning of this century, when both created Abertis.
Faine materialized the move in the ACS after completing the relief in the direction of the Criterion. Marcelino Armentera’s phase, which was dominated by a restrained investment strategy, ended in January last year. The appointment of Angel Simon as CEO has completely broken this trend, and in recent weeks Criteria has become the biggest market agitator in Spain. Together with Simon Fane, he completed a delayed landing at ACS. The purchase from Société Générale frees the construction company from the risks associated with the derivatives it entered into with the French bank.
The 9.4% stake acquired by Criteria will give the La Caixa holding company a seat on the board of directors of ACS. And he will be filled by Isidro Faine, who, at 81, continues to add to the endless list of positions. Thus, he will once again sit at the same table with Florentino Pérez, with whom he built a company that is today the largest highway operator in the world.
Abertis was born in 2003 from the merger of Áurea, controlled by Dragados, a subsidiary of ACS, and Acesa, owned by La Caixa. Their union created the largest highway concessionaire in Spain and the third largest in Europe. For almost ten years they shared capital and management, producing good results. But the financial crisis and the war that Perez started with Iberdrola forced ACS to lay down its sails on Abertis. So, in 2010, she agreed to transfer her 25.83% in CVC for 2.863 million euros, although in the end she reduced the percentage and retained 10%, which she sold two years later, in 2012, to Abertis itself (5.3%) and OHL (4.7). %) for 875 million euros. This marked the end of his adventure with the Catalan concessionaire (he retained a nominal 0.3%) and therefore of his collaboration with La Caixa.
The harmony between Florentino Pérez and Faine has always been palpable, although in 2008 it was jeopardized by differences they had over the purchase by Gas Natural (today Naturgy) of ACS’s 45% stake in Unión Fenosa. Football rivals, one the president of Real Madrid (Perez) and the other a Barcelona fan (Fine), they are businessmen first and foremost. And so their paths crossed again in 2018 when: now without the pressure that his heavy duty had exerted for yearsACS completed its return to Abertis as part of a joint takeover bid (takeover bid) with Italian company Atlantia – today Mundys – which involved the exit of Criteria’s shareholding.
Following changes to the wording of the shareholders’ agreement last summer, ACS and Mundys share a 50% stake in Abertis. Through its investment in the Spanish construction company, Criteria indirectly returns to the sphere of influence of the traffic manager it founded.
Active participation
The fact that Feine himself is on the board of directors confirms manager Manresa’s personal commitment to ACS. With an investment of €983 million at 9.4%, Criteria will actively participate in the management of the infrastructure group with the aim of consolidating its future growth. And Perez, owner of 14.16%, for his part believes: a prominent ally in the shareholding, with which former lieutenants such as March (Banca March) and Fluxá (Iberostar) said goodbye. and from which others, such as Alberto Cortina and Alberto Alcocer, abandoned their positions.
Florentino Pérez turned 77 in March and extended his mandate at the 2023 ACS shareholder meeting for another four years, until 2027. He has no successor in the family – none of his three children are members of the ACS. so in a more or less distant horizon this problem will have to be solved. By having Criteria as a qualifying shareholder, Perez gains an industrial partner who will help run the company and who can ultimately lead the group when he decides to leave. Moreover, it is now expected that Angel Simon will also be involved in the implementation of his existing professionalization plan. Juan Santamaria, appointed CEO of ACS last year following the abrupt departure in 2022 of Marcelino Fernandez Verdes, whom Pérez himself called his “heir apparent” a decade ago. Perez retains all management positions, although he reduces his presence day by day, spending most of his time with his greatest passion – Real Madrid.