“We are in a constituent moment in the field of defense,” the president of Indra, Marc Murta, proclaimed before Christmas at a conference in Madrid. For two reasons, he defended: the geopolitical moment, with two nearby wars underway, and technological acceleration. Indra wants to play in that game. After a complex corporate governance crisis that ended with a catharsis in management (Ignacio Mataix left and José Vicente de los Mozos was hired), the driving company of the national military industry and one of the most powerful in the technological field at the level European faces a decisive period.
The new CEO of Indra, De los Mozos, leads the work of the strategic plan for the coming years called Leading the future. It will be known on March 6. Its horizon is to become a company with “a leading role at the European level in command and control systems,” Murtra said. That is to say, the priority is for Indra to be a “reliable” company for the Spanish and other countries’ defense ministries. The military area is, therefore, a priority and technological development is becoming increasingly important in it.
Indra has created a war room at its Alcobendas headquarters to define its strategic plan. Everything is on the table. The central debate involves Minsait, the technology division that today represents more than half of Indra’s business. According to the latest data corresponding to the business for the first nine months of 2023, Minsait recorded sales of 2,005 million, compared to 1,011 million for the Transportation and Defense division. “All options are being analyzed,” company sources point out. That is, the sale of Minsait is being considered, although the decision has not been made. “We are agnostic; We analyze the data and the potential growth and in the first quarter we will announce our conclusions,” said Murtra.
Indra’s final objective is to gain muscle and have the capacity to develop European programs in the military and technological field. That is, becoming a complete “systemist”, with special attention to the aforementioned priority in command and control systems. In this sense, the FCAS, the future European combat aircraft, is presented as a historic opportunity for the company. It is the first time that Spain participates in a large European industrial project at the same level as Germany and France. Indra, therefore, faces the challenge of demonstrating that it can be the leading command and control technology provider company in Europe. The Spanish industry does not have the capacity to manufacture airplanes and armored vehicles, but it does have the capacity to be a technological power, and Indra’s leadership is focused on this. “We are on a track that is going to take us very far,” concluded Marc Murtra. The future plan of the Spanish multinational will also contemplate a strategy for searching and attracting talent, which is one of the company’s main concerns.
At the shareholder level, the last few months have been notable. Escribano, a group specialized in the defense sector, has increased its participation to 8% of the capital and is already the second shareholder, behind SEPI. Its vocation is to be an investor with an industrial and long-term vocation. This gives him the right to apply for a position on the board of directors, although he has not done so yet. Other shareholders committed to a greater or lesser extent to the project also sit on the board, such as SAPA or Amber Capital, the British investment fund founded by Joseph Oughourlian that declared to Bloomberg its interest in selling Minsait. “We are pushing for a split of the company between technology and defense or a complete sale or merger of the technology division,” he said. The strategic plan will also go through Indra’s corporate governance body.
The global defense industry is experiencing a renaissance, headlined the Financial Times this week, motivated by global instability. The two ongoing wars, Ukraine and Gaza, accelerate this business and Indra is no stranger to this situation. “Without defense there is nothing,” Murtra summarized. It is a new golden age that is being reflected in the stock market since Indra’s shares are trading at around 15 euros, the highest level in recent years.
