This Thursday, Ángel Simón was appointed CEO of Criteria Caixa, the holding company of the La Caixa group, chaired by Isidro Fainé, also president of the La Caixa Foundation. Simón, currently president of Agbar and vice president of the French group Veolia, replaces Marcelino Armenter, who renewed his position less than a year ago.
This was decided this morning by the board of directors of Criteria within the framework of a renewal process due to the expiration of the mandates of some directors, including Simón himself. It has also been agreed to propose the re-election of Isidro Fainé as president for another four years.
In addition, the appointment of the notary Juan José López Burniol as first vice president of the company is proposed. López Burniol, who until now was a member of the board of Criteria Caixa, also holds the position of vice president of the La Caixa Foundation. Javier Godó, Count of Godó, editor of La Vanguardia, continues as second vice president.
Another agreement is the renewal as directors of José Antonio Asiaín, Marcos Contreras, Jean-Louis Chaussade, Isabel Estapé, Josep-Delfí Guardia and Francesc Homs, in addition to Simón himself.
“We are opening a new stage and giving new impetus to the Criteria Caixa project, with the aim of securing the economic resources that the La Caixa Foundation will need in the coming years to carry out its social work,” Isidro Faine highlighted in a note.
Criteria’s contributions finance the La Caixa Foundation, which this year will break a record with a budget of 600 million euros, which represents an increase of 12% compared to 2023 and the highest figure in history.
Ángel Simón (Manresa, 1957) is a road, canal and port engineer. He joined the Agbar group in 1995, where he has held numerous positions until his appointment as president in 2001. He has also been executive vice president of Suez and manager of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, among other positions.
Criteria’s largest holdings are 32.2% of Caixabank, 26.7% of Naturgy, 9.1% of Grupo Financiero Inbursa, 19% of Bank of East Asia, 4.3% of Cellnex and 2.55% of Telefónica. In Telefónica, Caixabank also has another 3.5%. Its market valuation exceeds 26 billion.