José Vicente de los Mozos is working on a strategic plan for Indra that he will present to the board of directors before the end of the year. Two months after his election, the CEO of the main national defense company advanced some of his priorities at the head of a strategic company for the future government.
The former president of Renault in Spain wants to turn Indra into the “tractor company” of the homeland’s defense industry. He did it in the automotive sector and now he wants to apply it to the military. His intention, De los Mozos advanced at a breakfast organized by Nova Economia Fòrum, is to “seize, not phagocytize” a business conglomerate in which dozens of companies compete that do not have the capacity to internationalize their business on their own. Synergies. “If we are tractors we can opt for international tenders”, said the company’s number two. Tecnobit, Sener, GMV or Hispasat are some of the companies he cited as possible strategic allies in the future.
One of Indra’s pending operations is the entry into the shareholder of ITP Areo, the Basque company owned by Bain Capital. De los Mozos does not consider it urgent. Another decision that will have to clarify is the possible sale of Minsait, the technology area, a move that was defended by Amber Capital, the fund chaired by Joseph Oughourlian who has just joined the board of Indra. The new CEO limited himself to admitting that Minsait, directed by Luis Abril, has its own autonomy. “I don’t know if it will sell”, he added.
De los Mozos, however, did indicate that one of the lines of business he wants to promote in his strategic plan is that of new technologies. “The great opportunity is to develop future technologies” in Spain, he said. He referred to artificial intelligence, to Qantum, to blockchain, to cyber security… and admitted that “if we control the technologies of the future we will be able to influence the specifications that will be there”.
Regarding FCAS, Indra’s new CEO indicated that it is a “strategic project” for Spain. In the Eurofighter, the European combat aircraft operational today, Spain has 13%. In the FCAS, on the other hand, the country’s participation amounts to one third. “It means multiplying by 2.5 the industrial role of Spain” in the future generation of combat aircraft. This is an opportunity for companies and Indra wants to play this dual role, as an industrial partner and as a tractor firm to involve other more modest ones.
Indra’s internal governing body could have some changes depending on the composition of the next national executive. At the moment, the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI) has three representatives on the board of directors: the former Minister of Industry, Miguel Sebastián; the economist Juan Moscoso, and the former deputy of the PSOE Antonio Cueva. The future Ministry of Finance also has the option to expand the composition of the council and for SEPI to have four representatives.
