The uncertainty surrounding Indra’s consolidation operation with EM&Mthe company owned by its president Ángel Escribano, has sown concern not only among investors but also among workers of the company, who demand stability and continuity for the current project.
The voice for the staff’s claims has been given by CC OO, the majority union in the inter-center committee of the technology and defense firm.
Commissions, which assures that it did not receive with particular enthusiasm the appointment of Ángel Escribano as president at the beginning of 2025 to replace Marc Murtra, recognizes that a year later the group “it has evolved by leaps and bounds, on its way to becoming a technology company in Spain and Europe, part of the European technological, military and industrial consortium together with similar leaders such as Leonardo (Italy) or Thales (France)”.
The union assures that the difference between the Indra Group and other companies in the sector is its proprietary technology, which, they assure, “does not stop growing, with the example of the last year of the creation of IndraMind, Indra Space and Indra Land Vehicles.”
CC OO believes that a project like this, which aspires to become a reference in technology and defense, requires “stability and continuity”. Indra, in his opinion, “should not become a continuous political game board, a source of rumors and with hypothetical twists and turns that we believe do not suit the group, in its labor and business aspects, and much less the country and the European Union.”
After receiving the approval of its board of directors, it was assumed that Indra and EM&M would join forces through a merger by absorption. But the operation has been in abeyance due to Sepi’s objections to the fact that this formula gives the Escribano almost as much power as the public company in the new resulting company.
Condemned to understand each other
However, sources in the sector point out that, although this is a possible problem, a complaint for a possible conflict of interest due to the purchase of the company chaired by Ángel Escribano of his family business is a matter of great concern at Sepi.
In any case, neither party would find it easy or beneficial at this point to undo the operation. Indra and EM&M have signed various agreements in recent months whereby they operate almost as if they were the same firm. And if the consolidation operation of both companies goes to waste, it would be necessary to put order in all of them, which is not an easy task, according to some sources. Furthermore, the State would lose the opportunity to begin building that national defense champion to which it aspires.
The American fund Third Point is also of this opinion, which after acquiring a stake in Indra – of which it has not given more details -, has requested that its integration with EM&M be completed. In his opinion, this step “clearly increases the value” of the company and delaying it “would erode value, distract (the company’s) operations and mean a potential loss of a unique opportunity to build a relevant Spanish leader on a global scale at a time when demand and political support are uniquely aligned.”