Naturgy’s board of directors blocked yesterday the creation of the figure of the CEO after the resignation of the elected candidate: Ignacio Gutiérrez-Orrantia. The manager of Citi has declined Naturgy’s offer and has decided to continue with the financial institution. He already communicated his decision on Sunday to Francisco Reynés, president of the energy group, while on Monday he conveyed it to the senior management of Citi. Yesterday morning, he briefed his team and that’s when it transpired, according to sources familiar with the talks.
The news, advanced by the Bloomberg agency, came to light a few hours before the meeting of the board of directors of the energy sector, in which the incorporation of Gutiérrez-Orrantia was scheduled to be discussed. Reynés informed the board and, since there were no candidates, the matter of the CEO was suspended.
The fact that the resignation was already made official on Sunday through Reynés explains the statement that Criteria Caixa made public on Monday in which it expressed its support for Naturgy’s president and “his proposals aimed at being able to face the important challenges of the company in the coming years”. Criteria, La Caixa’s investment holding chaired by Isidre Fainé, is Naturgy’s first shareholder, with 26.4% of the capital, ahead of the GIP funds (20.6%), CVC (20.7%) and the ‘Australian IFM (14%), which is the most recently incorporated and which, unlike the other two, is not part of the nominating committee.
Citi sources declined to comment yesterday, although other knowledgeable sources say that the bank has not made any counteroffer and that the resignation was a personal decision by Gutiérrez-Orrantia. They remember that, although the position offered by Naturgy was very attractive, Orrantia, at 50 years old and in the prime of his career, is in charge of a team of 2,000 people in 55 countries as co-head of banking, capital markets and advisory for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, one of the most important regions where Citi operates.
The addition of a number two to Naturgy would imply a distribution of the executive functions, which for five years Francisco Reynés has concentrated, according to the alternative that has been studied to satisfy the demand of the funds with respect to the need to appoint a CEO.
Behind this request lies above all an interest in revitalizing the Géminis project, the segregation of assets into two companies: one with regulated businesses and another with liberalized ones. This would make it easier for the group’s shareholders to invest in or exit businesses they consider more profitable for their interests.
