La Caixa hires Ángel Simón as CEO of Criteria

A significant move in Barcelona's executive landscape. Ángel Simón will leave his executive functions at the Agbar Group and will become the new CEO of CriteriaCaixa starting February 1, the investment holding company of the "La Caixa" Banking Foundation. He will be responsible for managing assets valued at more than 26 billion euros, on which La Caixa's ability to continue its social activity depends, with a budget of 600 million euros this year. At the helm of Criteria ---where La Caixa owns 100% of the shares---, Simón will manage a business portfolio whose main jewels are the controlling stakes that La Caixa holds in CaixaBank (32%) and Naturgy (26.7%), in addition to share packages in companies such as Cellnex (4%), Telefónica (2.55%), Aigües de Barcelona (15%) and Saba (99.5%) and in international banks such as the Mexican Inbursa (9.1%) and the Chinese Bank of East Asia (19.19%). Criteria also controls a real estate portfolio of more than 2.7 billion and owns the venture capital firm CaixaCapital Risc.

Simón will retain the presidency of the Agbar Group, which he has held since 2010 ---when he replaced Jordi Mercader---, but his position will become non-executive, meaning he will no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations of the leading group in the water sector in Spain. He will, however, relinquish all positions and responsibilities he currently holds at the French giant Veolia, where he is part of its global management committee as senior vice president and head of Veolia's businesses in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. As a reminder, Veolia reached an agreement in 2021 to acquire the Suez group ---Agbar's historical parent company---, an operation that was formalized in early 2022 and from which Simón benefited by substantially expanding the volume of business and the perimeter of managed companies.

Born in Manresa in 1957, Simón will replace Marcelino Armenter at Criteria, a discreet executive who, despite occupying one of the most important management positions in Spain, has always maintained a low profile and stayed out of the spotlight. With a degree in Business Administration and a master's in business management from Esade, Armenter has been linked to the La Caixa group for more than 30 years and took over the management of Criteria in 2013. In 2019, the president of the La Caixa Banking Foundation, Isidro Fainé, redoubled his trust in the executive by incorporating him into Criteria's board of directors and subsequently appointing him CEO, a position he will leave on January 31 and which will be occupied by Simón. It is unknown whether Armenter will assume new functions in the La Caixa group or if he will completely disassociate himself from the conglomerate. Criteria's board, in a statement, has thanked Armenter for his dedication to the entity and his work as the company's chief executive in recent years.

In parallel to Simón's appointment, Criteria's board agreed this Thursday to propose Fainé's re-election as president of the investment holding company for four more years. According to the group, Fainé "has led a period of consolidation of the holding company in recent years, strengthening its position as the main shareholder of strategic companies such as CaixaBank and Naturgy, and carrying out a process of reorganization and diversification of its asset portfolio." In this sense, Criteria divested from Abertis and began an investment strategy in multiple listed companies, including Telefónica. The objective is for the companies in its portfolio to generate a "stable and sustainable" flow of dividends over time, a vital issue to be able to finance the budget for all the social, cultural, and research programs that the La Caixa Banking Foundation promotes annually.

The entity's budget for this year will increase by 12% and reach 600 million euros (in 2023 it was 538 million), becoming the highest figure in its history. In the last fifteen years, La Caixa has allocated 7,000 million euros to finance its social, scientific, educational, and cultural initiatives, an action carried out throughout Spain and, more recently, also in Portugal. The volume of this social investment and the size of the assets managed place La Caixa as the first foundation in Spain, the second largest in Europe, and one of the most important in the world. "The mission ---the entity reminds us--- is to build a more just society, with more opportunities for everyone, especially for those who need it most."

Ángel Simón's move to Criteria is highly significant for the future, as the executive has always been seen as one of the potential candidates to replace Fainé at the head of La Caixa. With this move, this position as Fainé's protégé and most trusted person is strengthened, and an orderly succession process could begin in the coming years.

Isidro Fainé, president of Criteria and of Fundación La Caixa."We are opening a new stage and giving a new impetus to the CriteriaCaixa project, with the aim of securing the economic resources that Fundación La Caixa will need in the coming years to carry out its social work. The approval of a budget of 600 million euros for 2024 represents a very important step in the entity's history. In a highly complex world, with ever-increasing levels of inequality, La Caixa maintains its commitment to social and human development, especially for the most vulnerable people," stated Isidro Fainé, 81 years old.

Criteria's board has also approved proposing the appointment of notary Juan José López Burniol as first vice-president of the investment group, a position he also holds on the board of trustees of Fundación Bancaria La Caixa. Businessman and publisher Javier Godó remains as second vice-president of Criteria. The directors José Antonio Asiáin, Marcos Contreras, Jean-Louis Chaussade, Isabel Estapé, Josep-Delfí Guardia and Francesc Homs have also been renewed for four more years. Criteria's board is completed by Eugenio Gay, Juan Manuel Negro, Asunción Ortega and Montserrat Trapé.

An engineer passionate about Ildefons Cerdà

Ángel Simón Grimaldos is a Civil Engineer (Caminos, Canales y Puertos) and joined the Agbar Group in 1995. He grew professionally within the company under the guidance of Ricard Fornesa, holding multiple positions in the leading multinational in water cycle management, until becoming its president in 2010. In fact, Simón became president at a particularly significant moment for Agbar, as in that year the group ceased to be listed on the stock exchange after 90 years. The delisting occurred after the French multinational Suez took control of Agbar to the detriment of Criteria Caixa ---which was listed at the time---, with whom it had previously controlled the company through Hisusa. In exchange for this divestment, La Caixa bought the insurer Adeslas from Agbar for more than one billion euros.

In this context, Simón was also vice-president of Suez between 2013 and 2022, the year in which he had to lead the integration of the Barcelona group into Veolia. Throughout this decade, the executive had to deal with two major fronts. On the one hand, the controversy generated by the constitution of the mixed company for water cycle management, Aigües de Barcelona, a legal battle that Agbar won in the Supreme Court. In parallel, Agbar appealed in the courts the awarding of the public company Aigües Ter Llobregat (ATLL) to the Acciona group, another well-known business war that the group led by Simón also managed to win in the Supreme Court.

Before joining Agbar, the executive was the manager of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). A lover of literature and poetry and a great connoisseur and defender of the work of Ildefons Cerdà, Simón has received the Professional Career Award from the Caminos Foundation and the Medal of Honor for Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 from Foment del Treball. He is also part of the Board of Trustees of the Princess of Girona Foundation and the Royal Spanish Academy Foundation.