It was on April 29, 2022 when Endesa’s shareholders’ meeting approved keeping José Bogas, CEO of the company since 2014, in office for four more years. Few could have imagined at that time that, in his new stage, the The executive was going to have to row through turbulence greater than that of the most complicated electricity market in history, the ones that were going to occur in his own home.
The arrival, last September, of Giorgia Meloni, from the ultra-right party Brothers of Italy, to the Italian Government has had a full impact on Enel. The Italian public electricity company owns 70% of Endesa and it is in Rome where the Spanish company’s roadmap is drawn. It is not surprising that the decision of the Meloni government to dismiss the current leadership of Enel has unleashed a wave of rumors about the continuation of José Bogas at the helm of Endesa, given his close relationship with the outgoing CEO Francesco Starace .
The president of the company himself, Juan Sánchez-Calero, wanted to clear them up before the shareholders’ meeting that the Spanish electricity company held on April 28: “In principle, José Bogas will continue as CEO until 2026.” This past Thursday it was Enel itself that denied that it was looking for a replacement for the Spanish director.
Everything indicates that the management team chosen by Meloni “trusts in principle” in Bogas, so his departure will not be as imminent as that of his Italian colleagues. However, the chances of expediting Bogas’s four-year term are weakening.
There are two key dates in the future of the current CEO of Endesa. The first is this Wednesday, May 10, Enel’s board of directors. The second, a day not yet set in November, the month in which both Endesa and Enel usually update their strategic plans.
This Wednesday, Enel will hold one of the most convulsive board meetings in its history. For the first time, it will not be a triumphant walk for the candidates for the top leadership appointed by the Italian Government. In this case, Paolo Scaroni as president, and Flavio Cattaneo as CEO.
Contrary to the usual, the official candidates have two other lists before them. On the one hand, Assogestioni, which represents 1.8% of the capital with funds as representative as Aberdeen Standard, Bnp Paribas or Axa WF Italy, among others, and which presents three candidates to sit on the council. More aggressive is the list presented by the investment fund Covalis Capital, with 0.63% of the capital. Its director, the Lithuanian Zach Mecelis, has criticized the lack of independence of the candidates proposed by the Government, and presents Marco Mazzucchelli as a possible president and five other candidates, including the Spanish Daniel Lacalle and Paulina Beato. The key to the final vote, according to the Italian press, will be in the percentage of capital that attends the meeting.
This is where proxy advisors come into play. For now, Glass Lewis, which represents around 20% of the capital, has positioned itself in favor of Covalis, which also has the support of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. ISS, on the other hand, recommends voting for Assogestioni, although it supports Scaroni as president.
Outgoing Francesco Starace has offered to help with an orderly transition. If that happens and the winners allow it, Bogas would be quiet for a while. “If they are smart, anyone who comes to Enel should be clear that Bogas knows the company perfectly and Spain is one of the jewels in that crown. There are many things to do in the Italian electric power company before removing him from his positionâ€, say sources from the electricity sector.
The first is to get to know the company inside and wipe off its debt of 58,901 million. Then it will come to define whether the strategy of abandoning fossil fuels, designed by Starace, will continue to be a priority. New guidelines to be released probably around November. It will be then when the future of José Bogas is defined.
