Uriach chooses Lluís Cantarell as first president external to the family

Uriach has always been a company advanced in corporate governance and structuring the relationship between the company and family members. The pharmaceutical group, 100% controlled by the Uriach family and with over 180 years of history, has just taken a new step with the appointment of Lluís Cantarell as the new chairman of the board of directors, a position that, for the first time, will be occupied by a professional external to the family. Cantarell had already been part of Uriach's board since 2013, so he knows the group well.

Thus, the two highest positions in the company will now be professionalized. Oriol Segarra remains as CEO, while Cantarell takes over the presidency, replacing Joaquín Uriach Torelló, who has held the position for the last eight years. In parallel to this move, the family has also reorganized its governing bodies by creating a new owners' council that replaces the traditional family council. This supreme body representing the different family branches that control the group's shareholding will now be chaired by Enrique Uriach Torelló.

The owners' council will have as its main missions: to reach a consensus among family shareholders regarding Uriach's governance and ownership; to maintain internal cohesion and a "single vision"; and to guarantee continuity, an element that will involve bringing members of the sixth generation of shareholders into this council. The strategic plan that the group has underway, and to which Cantarell must now contribute, foresees reaching a turnover of 300 million euros in 2022. In 2020, revenues rose to 240 million, up 5%, and ebidta rose to 48 million euros.

Lluís Cantarell is a Catalan executive who worked for the Nestlé group for 40 years, where he held some of the highest management positions in the organizational chart of the Swiss food giant. Cantarell, who left Nestlé at the end of 2016 upon turning 65, was vice president of the multinational and general manager of all the group's subsidiaries in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. He had also been the top executive for the company in the Americas and has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical sector, having led the creation of the Nestlé Nutrition business unit and being responsible for launching Nestlé Health Science.

Cantarell joins Uriach after leaving the presidency of Froneri last December, the world's second-largest ice cream manufacturer, a result of the alliance forged in 2016 by Nestlé and the PAI Partners fund, which the Catalan executive has successfully overseen. During its first years of existence, Froneri has achieved a turnover close to 4 billion euros (3.972 billion in 2020), with a presence in 23 countries, 13,000 employees, and brands such as Häagen-Dazs, Nuii, Movenpick, and Maxibon, although its main strength is the production of private labels, where it is a world leader.

Cantarell is also a board member of another Catalan family multinational, Werfen, and is vice-president of the Fero Foundation.

Commitment to over-the-counter medicines

With the hiring of Cantarell, Uriach seeks to reinforce its new strategic market positioning, which it has promoted over the last decade and which involves focusing on innovative mass-market products (consumer healthcare) to the detriment of prescription medicines. Cantarell's international experience is another asset sought by the Catalan family business, interested in boosting its internationalization.

Uriach is especially known in the market for commercializing Biodramina motion sickness pills, and its brands also include Aerored, Fave de Fuca, Ceregumil, and Halibut. The group's big bet in recent years has been the development of products for improving well-being and health based on herbs or natural products, a segment where it has grown through acquisitions and where it operates with the brands Aquilea, Fisiocrem, and Laborest.

Last February, Uriach announced the acquisition of the German company Sidroga, present in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with a turnover of 60 million and also based on natural formulation products. This is the most important corporate operation in the group's history and allows it to enter Germany, the largest European market for food supplements. The family business markets its products in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and its main priority is to enter France, surely also through an acquisition.