Indra hires Egon Zehnder to find the new CEO

Indra will define the future of the company in the coming weeks.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
02 April 2023 Sunday 23:58
36 Reads
Indra hires Egon Zehnder to find the new CEO

Indra will define the future of the company in the coming weeks. The company, majority owned by the State through Sepi with 27.99%, has hired the talent scout company Egon Zehnder to find its new CEO, as La Vanguardia has learned.

The aim is for the consultancy, with headquarters in Switzerland, to act as an adviser in the search for the successor of Ignacio Mataix, who was relieved by the board of directors a little less than a month ago.

It is a research process that should not take long, according to internal sources, and which will crystallize in the designation of this new number two who will form a tandem with the current president, Marc Murtra. The aim of the board is to complete the election before the next shareholders' meeting, which will be held on June 30.

Egon Zehnder was chosen, but Indra considered different names of national and international consultants. Company sources say they prefer not to confirm or deny the choice of the Swiss talent agency.

Indra is designing its business roadmap for the coming years, a parallel and complementary process to the election of the new CEO. It is the strategy commission, chaired by Murtra himself, which is putting together this business plan for the coming years. In this team there is also Jokin Aperribay, representing Sapa; the ex-minister Miguel Sebastián, councilor proposed by the Treasury, and the independents Axel Arendt, Francisco Javier García and Olga San Jacinto.

The former director arrived at Indra in January 2018, just half a year before the motion of no confidence that won the PSOE, as an executive councillor. In May 2021, he was appointed CEO. But the discrepancies with Murtra have been the reason for this decision, which will be momentous for the future of the company, considered one of the jewels in the crown of the public business conglomerate.

Indra finishes the internal restructuring that will crystallize in the formation of a duo between Murtra and the future CEO; a new stage in which the company seeks to increase revenues and profits in its two divisions, technology and defense and transport, in a period of increased military spending due to the war in Ukraine.

At the moment, Indra's most emblematic project is the FCAS, the future European combat aircraft that will enter into force in 2040. A sixth-generation fighter integrated in the digital cloud that will allow pilots to receive information about their environment through of drones that will accompany the main aircraft. The company has a team of 200 engineers who have already started developing the device. It is the first time that Spain participates in a community military project with the same level of involvement as Germany and France. And Indra has been chosen for this strategic country plan. The Spanish company will share a roadmap with the French giant Dassault and the multinational Airbus, which represents a huge growth opportunity for the company.