The appointment of Marta Ortega at Inditex reveals the movements of various family sagas in Santander, Ferrovial, Acciona, Meliá and OHLA
The landing of Marta Ortega in the presidency of Inditex has been more surprising for the moment chosen than for the landing itself, designed in recent years with Pablo Isla at the head of the textile company. The youngest of the founder, Amancio Ortega, was called to take charge of the corporation, although the succession has precipitated after the decade in which Isla has gone through two world crises (the financial one and now the pandemic) of which the business has been successful. The Ortegas maintain power and the business succession line in their group, like the Botín in Santandero, the Del Pino in Ferrovial and the Entrecanales in Acciona.
These are just some of the examples of the dynasties that command a large part of the large Spanish companies both inside and outside the Ibex-35. But inheritances are not what they used to be either. There is no omnipresent power. And the large funds and owners of these firms monitor every movement of the hereditary presidents so as not to put their investments at risk.
Big investors demand that it be so, limited power. And by investors we mean the Code of Good Governance of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The latest update of this text recommends that company presidents delegate their executive functions (those that give them decision-making power in major company actions) in favor of their CEOs. That is, that they can hold a lowered power – in some cases bordering on the symbolic or institutional – vis-à-vis “independent”, “external” executives and that they are not influenced by the familiar twists and turns that may arise between shareholder sagas.
Family sagas in large Spanish companies
Main significant holdings, by companies.
Amancio Ortega
Sandra Ortega
BlackRock
Capital Research
Credit suisse
BNP Paribas
JP Morgan
Barclays
A.Generali
Ana Botín
5.42
2.99
2.87
2.67
2.73
2.69
0.59
0.17
Rafael del Pino
President
Rafael del Pino
Maria del Pino
Anthony Hohn
The Children´s In.
Leopoldo del Pino
Lazard AM
BlackRock
Fidelity Int. Lim.
19.93
8.00
5.64
5.17
4.15
3.00
3.00
2.00
Jose Manuel Entrecanales
President
Tussen De Grachten
Wit Europese In.
Europacific Growth
The Bank of NY Corp.
A. Entrecanales
JI Entrecanales
Juan Entrecanales
JM Entrecanales
29.00
26.10
2.96
2.80
0.18
0.12
0.07
0.03
Juan Gabriel Escarrer
President
Escarrer Family
Gabriel Escarrer
Victor Grifols Roura
President
Drift
Scranton
Thorthol Holding
Nuria Roura
Capital Research
BlackRock
Fidelity Int. Lim.
Victor Grifols R.
Ramón Riera R.
Victor Grifols Deu
9.19
8.67
7.00
6.15
4.97
3.52
1.81
0.20
0.07
0.03
Luis Fernando Martin Amodio
President
Amodio Family
Simon Davies
Real Estate Space *
Tyrus Capital
Family sagas in large Spanish companies
Main significant holdings, by companies.
Amancio Ortega
Sandra Ortega
BlackRock
Capital Research
Credit suisse
BNP Paribas
JP Morgan
Barclays
A.Generali
Ana Botín
5.42
2.99
2.87
2.67
2.73
2.69
0.59
0.17
Rafael del Pino
President
Rafael del Pino
Maria del Pino
Anthony Hohn
The Children´s In.
Leopoldo del Pino
Lazard AM
BlackRock
Fidelity Int. Lim.
19.93
8.00
5.64
5.17
4.15
3.00
3.00
2.00
Jose Manuel Entrecanales
President
Tussen De Grachten
Wit Europese In.
Europacific Growth
The Bank of NY Corp.
A. Entrecanales
JI Entrecanales
Juan Entrecanales
JM Entrecanales
29.00
26.10
2.96
2.80
0.18
0.12
0.07
0.03
Juan Gabriel Escarrer
President
Escarrer Family
Gabriel Escarrer
Victor Grifols Roura
President
Drift
Scranton
Thorthol Holding
Nuria Roura
Capital Research
BlackRock
Fidelity Int. Lim.
Victor Grifols R.
Ramón Riera R.
Victor Grifols Deu
9.19
8.67
7.00
6.15
4.97
3.52
1.81
0.20
0.07
0.03
Luis Fernando Martin Amodio
President
Amodio Family
Simon Davies
Real Estate Space *
Tyrus Capital
Family sagas in large Spanish companies
Main significant holdings, by companies.
Amancio Ortega
Sandra Ortega
BlackRock
Capital Research
Credit suisse
BNP Paribas
JP Morgan
Barclays
A.Generali
Ana Botín
5.42
2.99
2.87
2.67
2.73
2.69
0.59
0.17
Rafael del Pino
President
Rafael del Pino
Maria del Pino
Anthony Hohn
The Children´s In.
Leopoldo del Pino
Lazard AM
BlackRock
Fidelity Int. Lim.
19.93
8.00
5.64
5.17
4.15
3.00
3.00
2.00
Jose Manuel Entrecanales
President
Tussen De Grachten
Wit Europese In.
Europacific Growth
The Bank of NY Corp.
A. Entrecanales
JI Entrecanales
Juan Entrecanales
JM Entrecanales
29.00
26.10
2.96
2.80
0.18
0.12
0.07
0.03
Juan Gabriel Escarrer
President
Escarrer Family
Gabriel Escarrer
Victor Grifols Roura
President
Luis Fernando Martin Amodio
President
Drift
Scranton
Thorthol Holding
Nuria Roura
Capital Research
BlackRock
Fidelity Int. Lim.
Victor Grifols R.
Ramón Riera R.
Victor Grifols Deu
9.19
8.67
7.00
6.15
4.97
3.52
1.81
0.20
0.07
0.03
Amodio Family
Simon Davies
Real Estate Space *
Tyrus Capital
The financial sector is the most paradigmatic case in this recommendation. Until a few years ago, the great bankers were in the broadest sense of the expression: presidents with all the power concentrated in their figure. An option that the European Central Bank (ECB) did not like and that the body has demanded to change.
In the case of an entity like Santander, its president, Ana Botín, the daughter of the former chief executive, the historic Emilio Botín, maintains executive functions, and has the backing of the large investment funds, which are the ones that really control power. from the bank, such as BlackRock, Barclays or Capital Research.
The support provided by these large investors is relevant, but their role is diluted in other companies where the family name weighs much more in the distribution of shareholders.
This is the case in large construction companies such as Ferrovial. The Del Pino family maintains executive power in the figure of its president, Rafael del Pino and, at the same time, they control most of the group’s shareholding with stakes that are close to 20% in the case of the first executive himself, or 8% that has another of the family owners, María del Pino, as well as 4.1% of Leopoldo del Pino and more than 2% of Joaquín. They are, together with Fernando, the children of the marriage between Rafael del Pino Moreno, the founder of the company in 1952, and Ana María Calvo-Sotelo Bustelo, sister of the former president of the Government Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. Together, they hold more than a third of the property.
Stay ahead
Another construction and service company like Acciona is in a similar circumstance. The Entrecanales are the family that controls the firm, although in this case they do so through two large companies such as Tussen de Grachten and Wit, with almost half the ownership.
The origin of the family business dates back to 1931 when the Bilbao civil engineer José Entrecanales Ibarra and the Sevillian businessman Manuel Távora founded Entrecanales y Távora. At the end of the 20th century, the merger with Covers and Mzov launched the current Acciona, controlled by the Entrecanales.
Another saga that maintains control is that of the Escarrer at Meliá. In 2018, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá – the founder – left control of Meliá Hoteles Internacional in the hands of his family. Specifically, he entrusted the company to his son Grabriel Ecarrer Jaume. Then it ceded control of the family companies that owns almost 50% of the hotel group’s shares, an operation that does not require launching a public acquisition offer (OPA).
Precisely, a draft operation that could end family power is one of the great fears of this type of company. The circumstances thus made it necessary to modify the historical structure at OHL, now called OHLA.
That final ‘A’ is the visual hallmark of the Amodio family, which has been taking control of the firm to the detriment of the historic president, José Manuel Villar-Mir. The last injection of 37 million euros in the company implied that the Amodios raised their participation to 26% and the Villar-Mirs lowered it to 7%. It is the latest case of how a crisis can end the family inheritance in companies in the Spanish market.
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