José M. Rodríguez Silva
Updated Wednesday, March 27, 2024-10:38
Companies The Government accelerates the purchase of Telefónica shares to appoint a director as soon as possible
Companies The Government uses Treasury funds to enter Telefónica without new Budgets
The
first vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero,
reaffirmed this Thursday on
RNE
the Government's vocation to reach 10% of the share and attributed the increases in the share to the fact that the market views the emergence of the Government in the shareholding of the listed company.
"Yesterday, Telefónica's stock rose and that means that the investment market has seen it favorably. And it is curious that after clarifying by the Government that we will continue until completing this 10%, there was a rebound in the share price, the vice president noted during the interview.
The shares of the telecommunications operator rise timidly in the first hours of the trading day, repeating highs of the year and touching 4.09 euros, levels that had not been seen for almost a year.
This will mean
an increase in the bill that the Government will have to assume
to reach the 10% that has been proposed to "reinforce Telefónica's strategy" and give "shareholding stability" to the business group, as the Executive has stated on several occasions.
The State Society of Industrial Participations (Sepi) notified last Monday that it had reached 3% of Telefónica shares. According to
Europa Press
, the entity could control another 2% through financial instruments not yet declared to the supervisor.
This figure does not yet allow us to have a director, but it is
enough to force the company's Board of Directors to convene a shareholders' meeting within a period of two months
in which the entry of the director that the Government desires is proposed.
The threshold number to reach a director is 6.7% in the current body, but both
BBVA and Caixa have a member with a lower percentage
, which could encourage the Executive to demand similar treatment without waiting to reach that figure.
However, what
is ruled out is that this step could be taken at the April 12 meeting
, since all the deadlines for proposing new additions to the agenda have expired. At most, the Executive could force a vote on confidence in a specific director that would lead to his dismissal and allow the Board of Directors to fill the gap so that it would later be ratified at a new shareholders meeting.
Outside of this equation,
the other option would be to expand the council
(with the possibility of having to make another increase in size if STC also requests its own member), which would go against good governance codes, which consider that having more of 15 members hinders the operation of the body.