{"id":39745,"date":"2025-01-18T19:07:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T19:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=39745"},"modified":"2025-01-18T19:07:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T19:07:34","slug":"state-owned-sepi-proposes-to-replace-telefonica-ceo-by-reuters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=39745","title":{"rendered":"State-owned SEPI proposes to replace Telefonica CEO By Reuters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Inti Landauro and Andres Gonzalez<\/p>\n

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish telecom giant Telefonica (NYSE:)’s board agreed on Saturday to appoint defence company Indra’s chairman Marc Murtra as its new CEO, replacing Chief Executive Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete following a request from state-owned fund SEPI. <\/p>\n

Telefonica’s board held an extraordinary meeting on Saturday to decide to terminate Alvarez-Pallete’s contract and offer his job to Murtra, who accepted it, the company said in a filing to the stock market regulator.<\/p>\n

The decision still needs to be ratified by shareholders, the company said.<\/p>\n

State-owned investment fund SEPI had proposed to replace Alvarez-Pallete, who has led the company since 2016, with Murtra, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier on Saturday. <\/p>\n

The current term of Alvarez-Pallete was due for renewal this year at the annual general shareholders meeting usually held in April or May.<\/p>\n

Under Murtra, Indra, which is 28% owned by the Spanish government, has focused on its defence and aerospace business to benefit from European countries’ increased military budgets following heightening world tensions.<\/p>\n

The Spanish government bought a 10% stakeworth about 2.3 billion euros ($2.36 billion) in Telefonica through SEPI in May 2024 to counterbalance the acquisition of a similar stake by Saudi Arabia’s STC in late 2023.<\/p>\n

The acquisition gave the government a seat on Telefonica’s board.<\/p>\n

Given Telefonica is considered a defence service provider and therefore a strategic company, the government only approved the transaction in November 2024 after securing a stake in the telecom company similar to STC.<\/p>\n

Over the past years, Telefonica, like rivals in Europe, has faced a squeeze on profitability from fierce competition and the need for hefty investment in infrastructure for the 5G next-generation mobile technology.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It has been selling stakes in more mature businesses such as submarine cables or mobile masts and smaller operations in Latin America to fund 5G and optic fibre.<\/p>\n

($1 = 0.9736 euros)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n