An established maxim of finance is that large strategic investments give power, and with power also come more benefits, monetary and political, of influence, which consolidate the survival of the model. This principle is even more evident in times, such as the present, in which the policy of open doors to the entry of capital from any source is increasingly being questioned.
Brussels is preparing to strengthen the protection of companies classified as strategic in view of the landings in its capital of investors considered dangerous. It is a response to their own impotence and the realization that European companies are finding it increasingly difficult to compete against the giants of the US and China. Also to the transformation of the world economy, above all due to the Chinese emergency, and its consequent fragmentation, which fades away the unified globalization of the last decades and turns upside down the world order organized by Washington after the Second World War world
The shielding measures proposed by the European Commission mean giving more capacity to member states to regulate this protection. This is a very wide margin of action. What are strategic companies? Firstly, those of defense or military, but also those of telecommunications, or those of infrastructure and transport, from communication routes to airlines, and many of the services considered basic or essential, such as energy, water, or communication, among others. Possibly the big banks too.
In several European countries, measures have been adopted to restrict these investments, especially Germany. Italy has withdrawn from the so-called “silk route”. Spain has been one of the EU countries that most happily privatized its large public companies, first, and then left them in the hands of international investors. This is the conclusion if compared to what happens in Germany, France or Italy, to mention the three big economies of the single market, where the states had not completely abandoned the capital of essential companies or had relevant national partners to ensure – its control.
Perhaps for this reason, Spain is now home to two of the most notable cases in Europe, due to their relevance, of the emergence of investors with interests that diverge from those of the Government of Pedro Sánchez: Telefónica and Naturgy. Undoubtedly a first assault of what can happen if the current trends are maintained.
In both companies, La Caixa – its investment holding, Criteria – holds significant stakes in the capital, in addition to controlling the country’s first bank, Caixabank. A manifestation of the fact that the uniqueness of the galaxy chaired by Isidre Fainé – the combination of the classic banking business and investment in service companies, with recurring income and results – has survived the financial crisis, the regulatory requirements of the banking authorities that they penalize these business holdings and the minus of the coronavirus.
An admittedly diminished survival, as some crown jewels were lost along the way, such as Abertis or Agbar. Also, although less strategic, with respect to the oil company Repsol, chaired by Antoni Brufau and in which he was present to protect the gas company Naturgy, in which the oil company had been an important shareholder. In any case, the chronicles that, interpreting those departures, condemned the end of his singularity were “exaggerated”, as Mark Twain wrote regarding the news about his death.
In these moments, in which the Spanish Government, this and probably one of the PP, must look for allies to protect strategic companies, La Caixa can be a reference. And that’s because there are no more operators in the financial sector that hold stakes in companies. The regulations penalize it, and so do the stock exchanges that do not understand the mix of activities. In the past, when the governments of the socialist Felipe González undertook the first privatizations, other financial powers, Santander and BBV, accompanied La Caixa in the creation of the so-called hard cores. Now they are no longer available and their dependence on international markets makes it impossible to return to those practices. This is the first of the two great singularities of the La Caixa model.
The second is of a territorial nature, since this galaxy, which includes the first bank and the first investment holding company, is not centralized in the Madrid square, unlike what happens with all the rest of the financial activity, with the exception of Sabadell. Its operational reference continues to be mainly in Barcelona.
The convergence of interests between the Spanish Government, which does not want the large companies in foreign hands, and La Caixa, which has made clear its intention to defend its strategic holdings, coincides with the music that is playing in other European capitals. Also in Washington. New climate for business, from regulation to competition rules. The newly minted Minister of Industry, Jordi Hereu, told Cinco Días about the merger between Iberia and Air Europa: “We need big players”.
In this context, the change in the management of Criteria has been implemented, the appointment of Ángel as CEO. His arrival suggests a new investment policy, leaving behind the diversification into small holdings, the performance of which does not depend on the management leverage, power and influence of La Caixa, but on financial calculations on the fulfillment of which the entity had no influence. And from there it will fuel its new firepower, a portfolio that is not considered strategic and that accumulates, at the outset, something over 3,000 million euros.
