CriteriaCaixa plans to strengthen its presence in "strategic" companies such as Naturgy or Telefónica. The investment arm of Fundación La Caixa presented this Monday its strategic plan for the period 2025-2030, which continues the activity followed in recent months and aims to increase the gross value of assets to 40,000 million, 48% more than the 27,000 million in 2023. The new roadmap contemplates increasing the annual dividend paid to Fundación La Caixa ---Criteria's sole shareholder--- to 700 million euros and also plans to deploy a "broad restructuring" of the real estate business. "We want to give a decisive boost to our industrial and financial investments," said the president of CriteriaCaixa, Isidro Fainé, in his presentation.
Sources from the holding company that groups and manages the business assets of Fundación La Caixa admit that it is an aggressive and difficult plan to fulfill, but they emphasize that in the coming years they will focus on strategic and leading companies in the State to achieve their objectives. In this regard, it is worth remembering, for example, that in recent months CriteriaCaixa has entered the capital of ACS (9.4%), Colonial (17%) or Puig (3%), reports ACN.
"We will strengthen our presence in strategic companies in the country in the banking, telecommunications and energy sectors," said the CEO of CriteriaCaixa, Ángel Simón, at the event held at the Avenida Diagonal headquarters. The objective of the plan is for the strategic portfolio to account for 55% of the gross value of Criteria's assets in 2030, with an approximate value of 22,000 million euros ---at the end of 2023 the value was 19,000 million---.
The new roadmap does not contemplate a change of the entity's headquarters. Sources from CriteriaCaixa assure that they are "very comfortable" with the registered office in Palma de Mallorca and operational offices in Barcelona and Madrid.
The objectives of the new plan
Regarding the 40,000 million euros in gross asset value set for 2030, this is a significantly higher figure compared to the 27,000 million the entity had at the end of fiscal year 2023. As for the 700 million euros in annual dividend, the figure also contrasts with the 400 million in 2023. "The priority objective of the plan is to provide an uninterrupted and growing dividend that allows the social work of the La Caixa Foundation to continue to develop," the company stated. Another priority element is to reinforce Criteria's role "as a stabilizing agent of the Spanish economy" by investing in strategic sectors such as banking, energy, and telecommunications.
The new roadmap estimates that CriteriaCaixa will receive close to 12,000 million euros in dividends from its strategic holdings in the 2024-2030 period. The plan also contemplates a net debt position of between 10% and a maximum of 20% of the gross asset value and places the net value at 36,000 million.
The weight of the portfolios will vary in the coming years. Thus, the strategic investment portfolio will go from 74% to 55%, the diversification portfolio from 13% to 25%, the private equity portfolio from 3% to 10%, and the real estate portfolio will remain at 10%. "The entire portfolio is a balanced set," Simón assessed. In that strategic portfolio, in addition to Naturgy (26.71%) and Telefónica (5%), the control of 31.92% of CaixaBank stands out.
Regarding the private equity portfolio, the forecast is to invest in unlisted companies, both directly in Spain and internationally through investment funds. CriteriaCaixa expects this portfolio to reach an estimated value of 4,000 million by 2030.
In the real estate portfolio, the holding company plans to remodel it and divest a large part of it, to subsequently reinvest in assets that generate greater profitability and revaluation potential, as explained. This includes the Colonial movement, for example. The new portfolio will combine its direct and indirect management.
CriteriaCaixa executives have also emphasized the entity's new ESG strategy, so they plan to take into account environmental, social, and governance criteria in their investments.
CaixaBank, Naturgy, and Telefónica, among the strategic investments
From the new strategic plan, the names of Naturgy and Telefónica stand out, included in the strategic investment portfolio, where CriteriaCaixa plans to carry out investment and divestment actions. Simón admitted that one of the "macro-initiatives" of the roadmap is to create value for the energy company chaired by Francisco Reynés. After CriteriaCaixa broke off negotiations with Taqa last week to launch a joint takeover bid for this company, sources from the holding company assured that they want to explore other alternatives and emphasize that they are willing to sit down with everyone.
Regarding Telefónica, CriteriaCaixa sources assure that they are comfortable with a 5% stake in the shareholding and insist that if they want to increase that percentage, they will communicate it to the market.
According to Fainé, the new roadmap towards 2030 aims to "preserve and grow the assets of Criteria and La Caixa Foundation to continue generating more social value." The banker highlights that the plan comes "at a particularly significant moment," because this year marks the 120th anniversary of the creation of La Caixa. Today converted into a banking foundation, the entity has a budget of 600 million euros, the highest in its history, which places it as the undisputed leader of private social investment in Spain. In fact, La Caixa is the first foundation in Spain, the second in Europe, and the seventh in the world in terms of total assets.
Fainé: "The objective is to preserve and grow the assets of Criteria and La Caixa Foundation to continue generating greater social value"The president of Criteria explained that the purpose is "to increase the economic contribution to the country's development, through participation in strategic companies to also increase the social action of the Foundation." To do this, the new plan, he announced, will be based on 6 basic precepts: "Sense of commitment in the management of the companies in which we participate. Willingness to establish alliances with our relationship groups, establishing a framework for collaboration. Adherence to respectful investment criteria in environmental, social, and good governance matters. Search for certainty, stability, and security. Selection of investments that represent a positive impact on society, the economy, and the environment. And investment and management with a long-term vision."
Fainé has given clues about the type of companies in which Criteria plans to invest: "Our preference is for companies with already consolidated businesses, and which, at the same time, have opportunities and strengths to expand their businesses and generate more and more value in the future. In addition to having solid financial positions, as well as continuous and growing dividend payment policies," he pointed out. Finally, he stressed that CriteriaCaixa "wants to be a benchmark, because it is inspired by a type of management and leadership based on a vocation of service to society, and with a transformative purpose that is reflected in this strategic plan to continue building a better future."
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