Competition authorizes without conditions the purchase of 89.68% of Hispasat by Indra for 725 million

The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has authorized the purchase of 89.68% of Hispasat by Indra from Redeia for 725 million euros, according to the regulator’s records consulted by Europa Press. As expected, the CNMC has authorized the operation in the first phase and without the imposition of any type of conditions, so the regulator has taken less than a month – the notification of the transaction occurred on October 17 – to resolve the file.

In this way, and according to the planned scenario, Indra will hold an extraordinary meeting at the end of this month (November 27 or 28) in which the operation will be submitted to the scrutiny of its shareholders. Once this procedure has been completed, it is expected that the operation will also obtain the approval of the Government before the end of the year, which must authorize it in the Council of Ministers.

However, this approval is taken for granted, given that the State is the main shareholder of Indra with 28% of the share capital through the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI). It should be noted that the operation also includes the takeover of Hisdesat – the military branch of Hispasat – by Indra.

On the other hand, at the extraordinary meeting at the end of this month (most likely to be held on November 28) a partial renewal of Indra’s board of directors will also be put to the vote of shareholders. Regarding this, the company seeks to form a board of directors in accordance with the company’s objectives and to pave the way for the merger with Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E), the other large operation in which the company works.

New European space giant

The CEO of Indra, José Vicente de los Mozos, said last week in a meeting organized by Europa Press that the company rules out the immediate possibility of being part of the new European space giant that will be created with the combination of the businesses of Thales, Airbus and Leonardo in this area, despite the fact that it will have a branch in Spain.

“Today it is not planned. I think that Bromo – the name of the project – is a part in the ‘upstream’ part of space that Thales, Airbus and Leonardo do. We have our ‘upstream’ activities with Deimos – for example the space surveillance radios that are in Europe are ours -, we have in Germany, in Spain and there will be in other countries. Why not be Bromo suppliers tomorrow in some of the activities we do?“he highlighted.

“Then there is the ‘downstream’ part, which is the operator part, which is Hispasat, and then the issue of Hisdesat, which is defense, which has a different reading. Just as we think that there may be a consolidation in the upstream part, we think that in the operator part there will also be movements in the coming years, and that is where we have to see our business, what we can contribute as a company and as a country,” De los Mozos added.