The director of the activist fund The Children’s Investment (TCI), Chris Hohn, has raised his stake in Cellnex from 7% to 9% to become the first shareholder. His objective is to relieve the president of the company and two directors to cause changes in management.
The irruption of this activist in the capital comes just two months after Tobías Martínez announced that he will leave the position of CEO in June, after having directed the strong growth of the operator of telecommunications towers, in which Cellnex has become one of the leaders in Europe.
In a letter sent to the company, Hohn demands a presence on the board of directors and the departure of the president and two directors, alluding to the lack of progress in the appointment of a new CEO and a poor stock market performance, with a decline of 20% in the last twelve months. His concern, he says, is focused on the “governance” of the company.
“We think that Cellnex is a great company, but in our opinion it cannot reach its full potential because it suffers from poor corporate governance,” says the letter, which La Vanguardia has had access to. The process of replacing Martínez has been “neglected”, which causes a “loss of confidence” in the president of the company, Bertrand Kan, and in the members Peter Shore and Alexandra Reich. Hohn wants to replace them with a TCI representative, Jonathan Amouyal, and other “potential advisers.”
TCI will request his dismissal at the next general meeting of shareholders, indicates the letter, written as a “courtesy” and with the intention of “advancing” the intentions of the activist fund, which intends to present a formal proposal as soon as the general meeting is called.
Of the 9% stake, Hohn has voting rights over 3% of the capital, which is the minimum threshold to include additional items on the agenda of shareholders’ meetings. The rest of the participation corresponds to financial instruments.
Its 9% stake places it ahead of other shareholders such as the Benetton family, which has 8.2% through Edizione, or Blackrock and the Canadian Pension Fund, each with 5%. Criteria Caixa declares 4.7% to the CNMV, a stake similar to that of the telecommunications operator Hutchison.
Hohn is known internationally for his activism. In Aena, from whose capital it has already left, it forced the board of directors to approve a new environmental plan, while in Ferrovial, despite not being part of the board of directors, it has aligned itself with the management plans to move the headquarters from Spain to the Netherlands. He has also forced changes in companies such as Airbus or in American railway groups.
The 9% stake in Cellnex is around 2,300 million euros. The company’s shares closed today with a rise of 1%.
