The Naturgy board of directors parked this Tuesday the creation of the figure of the CEO after the resignation of the chosen candidate: Ignacio Gutiérrez-Orrantia. The Citi manager has declined Naturgy’s offer and has decided to continue at the financial institution. He already communicated his decision on Sunday to Francisco Reynés, president of the energy group, while on Monday he transferred it to Citi’s senior management. This Tuesday morning, he informed the team about him and that was when he transcended, according to sources familiar with the conversations.
The news, advanced by the Bloomberg agency, was known a few hours before the energy company’s board of directors met, in which it was planned to discuss the incorporation of Gutiérrez-Orrantia. Reynés informed the council and, since there were no candidates, the matter of the CEO was suspended.
The fact that the resignation was already made official on Sunday through Reynés explains the statement that Criteria Caixa made public on Monday expressing its support for the president of Naturgy and “his proposals aimed at being able to face the important challenges of the company in the coming years.” Criteria, the La Caixa investment holding company chaired by Isidro Fainé, is the largest shareholder in Naturgy, with 26.4% of the capital, ahead of the GIP (20.6%), CVC (20.7%) and the Australian IFM (14%), which is the most recently incorporated and which, unlike the other two, is not part of the appointments committee.
Citi sources declined to comment, although other knowledgeable sources say the bank has not made any counter-offer and that the resignation was Gutiérrez-Orrantia’s personal decision. They remember that, although the position offered by Naturgy was very attractive, Orrantia, 50 years old and fully professional, is in charge of a team of 2,000 people in 55 countries as co-director of banking, capital markets and advisory services for Europe, the East Middle and Africa, one of the most important regions in which Citi operates.
The incorporation of a number two in Naturgy would imply a distribution of executive functions, which Francisco Reynés has concentrated for five years, according to the alternative that has been studied to satisfy the demand for funds regarding the need to appoint a CEO.
Behind this request lies above all an interest in revitalizing the Gemini project, the segregation of assets into two companies, one with regulated businesses and the other with liberalized ones. That would make it easier for shareholders to invest in or exit businesses that they consider most profitable for their interests.
