Naturgy shareholders have taken action so that the company applies one of the most widespread Good Governance Code rules among large Ibex 35 companies, that of different people holding the positions of chairman and CEO.
The decision would imply revoking the vote taken at the last shareholders' meeting on March 28, in which Francisco Reynés was confirmed in office for four more years. The manager himself confirmed to the press that he "feels very comfortable" with both positions and considered that it was not necessary for Naturgy to follow the trend that the rest of the Ibex majors have been applying in recent years. Even so, Reynés made himself available to what the shareholders mark.
The tranquility of the manager has not lasted long. The company's shareholders have continued to think about the change and "now someone has been in a hurry," explained sources familiar with those meetings consulted by La Vanguardia. This haste has resulted in the conversations having jumped to the newspapers and last Monday Cinco Días even pointed out a name to assume the duties of CEO. Specifically, the economic newspaper cited Ignacio Gutiérrez-Orrantia, former director of investment banking at Citigroup, among other possible executives.
The promoters of the change have been the large investment funds present in the shareholding: CVC, with 20.7%; GIP, with another 20.6%; and IFM, with 14%. But the turning point that indicates that the decision could be made soon has been the positioning of Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, which is the largest shareholder, with 26.70% of Naturgy. Criteria has refused to comment, although sources in the sector indicate that it is not opposed to a split of Reynés' functions that would not have to end his current control of the company.
The best proof of this is the strategy applied by Iberdrola. On October 25, the president of the electric company, Ignacio Galán, appointed Armando Martínez as CEO of Iberdrola, but at the same time he retained almost all executive powers.
It would remain to be seen, however, if this option would be validated by the Naturgy shareholder funds. Because the market has known for some time the desire of some of them to sell their shares, particularly GIP.
A desire that they already had to delay due to the paralysis of the Geminis project and that they now see as a breach of good governance rules could make it difficult for other large funds to be interested in entering. Many of them have among their investment rules that they place their money only in companies that meet international criteria.
In any case, the change would not be revolutionary for Naturgy since the management team prior to Reynés, who took office in 2018, was dual with Isidro Fainé as president and Rafael Villaseca as CEO.
