Fainé makes a drastic change at La Caixa and chooses Reynés as Simón's replacement.

Isidro Fainé, chairman of La Caixa, officially ended his short honeymoon yesterday with Ángel Simón, the executive he had chosen as CEO of Criteria just over a year earlier. The board of trustees of the La Caixa Foundation, which Fainé chairs, agreed to replace Simón and appoint Francisco Reynés as executive vice president. Reynés will combine this new position with that of executive chairman of Naturgy. He will also hold the position of trustee of the Foundation itself.

Simón joined Criteria with the aim of revolutionizing the investment company, the first in Spain with its size and portfolio of investments. The La Caixa holding company had been undergoing a period of minimalism for more than three decades, retreating from dominant positions in large Spanish service companies to a role as a financial investor, far removed from the power aspirations of the past, except in its three largest companies: Caixabank, Naturgy, and Telefónica. Fainé had expressed his desire to implement this shift more than a year earlier.

Simón arrived like a storm. Last June, accompanied by Fainé, he presented Criteria's ambitious new strategic plan for the 2025-2030 period, which set a goal of contributing 700 million in dividends to the La Caixa Foundation in the final year.

Furthermore, in just a few months, Criteria doubled its stake in Telefónica, in a blitzkrieg allied with the government to stop the Saudis from taking over STC; it unsuccessfully sought new shareholders for Naturgy, one of the crown jewels, in need of a new shareholder rebalance; and, with blitzkrieg-like rhythm, it expanded Criteria's sphere of action with new stakes that betrayed its desire for influence: Colonial, Puig, Veolia, Europastry, Celsa. All major deals.

This dynamic didn't always sit well within the La Caixa galaxy, nor did it foster an understanding of the firm's traditional culture. Its own chairman was accustomed to directly leading all major transactions, and the new CEO, in addition to being very active on various fronts, played a prominent role, which generated tension in the smaller of the two black towers on Barcelona's Diagonal, where the La Caixa Foundation has its headquarters. An atmosphere of mistrust gradually developed.

Simón set out to revolutionize Criteria, which had been experiencing more than three decades of scattered investment.

The definition of the new Criteria has also been closely linked to global geoeconomic changes, which have prompted government intervention in the lives of companies considered strategic, in order to prevent them from falling into unsafe hands or whose investments in the country could be at risk. Indeed, a large part of Criteria's portfolio is made up of companies of these characteristics, which requires a fluid relationship with President Pedro Sánchez and several of his economic ministers. Simón's selection, at the end of 2023, already took this key condition into account.

In this complex context, from the political sphere, pressure from parties like the PP, promoting the idea that La Caixa had become the government's financial arm, further contributed to this situation. These voices pointed to Simón's closeness to the Socialists.

Pedro Sánchez's decision to force José María Álvarez-Pallete out of the presidency of Telefónica on January 18th added even more discomfort to Fainé's shoulders. It should be noted that although Ángel Simón, along with Enrique Goñi, Fainé's advisor, and Manuel de la Rocha, director of economic affairs for the Prime Minister's Office, had to undertake the unpleasant process of informing Pallete that he had to step down as president of Telefónica, it was Fainé who had to approve the change in a meeting with Sánchez at Moncloa Palace. This led to some tense conversations between the financier and the president of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo.

That Fainé was changing his vision for the organization of La Caixa began to become clear when last December, just days before the changeover at Telefónica, he appointed Josep Maria Coronas as the Foundation's general director, a position that also included that of secretary. The State Attorney has had a close relationship with Reynés for years, since they formed a partnership at the highway concessionaire Abertis, when it was part of the La Caixa group. Coronas's appointment triggered the first major crisis, with the resignation of La Caixa's longtime vice president, notary Juan José López Burniol. Burniol did not see fit to combine the positions of secretary and general director in one person. Simón shared that view. Finally, last April, Reynés was appointed a trustee of the Foundation, a move that consolidated the estrangement between Fainé and Simón and represented a foretaste of what happened yesterday: a concentration of power in the hands of the Naturgy executive. The latter is considered closer to the PP, while Simón was believed to be closer to the Socialists. Both have always denied this.

In recent days, an episode has gained prominence: the investment approved by Criteria, for just over 200 million euros, to purchase a 20% stake in the Catalan steel company Celsa, a further step in the strategy of promoting large, family-owned or established firms. This project was considered strategic by the Sánchez and Salvador Illa governments in the Generalitat (Catalan government) due to the number of jobs (up to 10,000) and the importance of its production.

On the eve of the changeover, on April 23, Isidro Fainé had a meeting with Pedro Sánchez

Negotiations began after a meeting between Fainé and Celsa's chairman, Rafael Villaseca. With the former's green light, the latter embarked on the final stretch with Simón. At the beginning of this busy month of April, both parties announced the final agreement, pending due diligence (final audit), but with all conditions already agreed upon and approved by Criteria's board. A few days later, a second statement from Criteria questioned the deal's closure, a fact that had nothing to do with the company's economic and financial situation and everything to do with its past and the bitter taste left in the mouths of some CaixaBank executives by the loss recorded due to the debt they had incurred when the steelmaker entered insolvency due to its high debt volume, according to sources consulted by this newspaper.

But the reversal revealed the deteriorating internal climate and, above all, alerted the governments of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​who did not want a new crisis in the company. Even De la Rocha is legally mandated to monitor the company's development. Last week, on Wednesday, April 23, while Catalans were enjoying a sunny day buying flowers and books, Fainé had another meeting with Sánchez. Shortly after, Simón's replacement, which was executed yesterday, was put in place. It seems Sánchez did not achieve what he intended.