Escribano buys 3% of Indra for €65m
Defense specialist Escribano has penetrated Indra by 3%, the quasi-public company’s new shareholder said Monday. The price at which it acquired the share package amounts to 65 million euros and after its entry it will become the second industrial partner of Indra after Saba, accumulating 5%.
It is a company working on various projects for the Ministry of Defense. Among them, building a new 8×8 armored vehicle for the army. A contract for 348 vehicles worth €2,400m is being developed under the umbrella of a joint venture that it shares with Indra itself, Santa Barbara Sistemas and SAPA (also a shareholder of the quasi-public company).
Escribano notes that this process is increasing its position of reference in Spain’s defense sector. “It is the result of a clear commitment to the solidity of the Spanish defense industry, a leading and strategic sector for the social and economic development of our country, to which Escribano is firmly committed and wants to contribute his experience,” company sources indicated after announcing the operation.
Founded in 1989 by Angel Escribano, the company began life as a small machine shop. The founder’s two sons, Ángel and Javier Escribano, the current President and CEO, have been responsible for the growth the company has achieved in the past 10 years, As it moved from 80 to 700 employeeswith an estimated turnover for 2023 of 140 million euros and operations in more than 20 countries.
With this incorporation, the government also adds a major ally in the field of defense, at a time when it seeks to promote this business in Indra, a company it controls through SEPI with 25% of the share capital. The most relevant shareholder, according to the data available on the CNMV website.
He is also a familiar face for the government at a time when it is seeking support in decision-making within the company, as this newspaper has already reported on various occasions. In the past two years, this intensification has become evident since the departure of the then president, Fernando Abril Martorell, who was forced in May 2021 and replaced by Marc Mortra, a businessman close to the PSC, although without executive powers.
A year later, the coup came. Through various purchases, the government jumped from 18.7% of the shareholding to 25% and at the 2022 shareholder meeting, SEPI (supported by Amber and Sapa) storms the boardroom. The highest governing body ended up running out of independent directors between dismissals, non-renewals and resignations.
The latest related move came with the dismissal of its CEO Ignacio Mattix last March. The company linked this launch to “defining the next strategic plan that the company plans to define for the coming years.” Mattix continues in the role pending the appointment of a new CEO by the Board.
