The board of the technology company plans to give the green light today to the beginning of the process to acquire the satellite firm from Redeia. Indra is also contemplating the acquisition of Santa Bárbara.
Indrathe information and defense technology group, will approve at its shareholders’ meeting today the segregation of the space activity business, to create a new subsidiary, Indra Espacio, which will be one of the growth vectors of the company. Spanish company in the future.
In fact, in Indra’s new strategic plan, presented in March, it is expected that the Space business suppose around 1,000 million in turnover by 2030, which would represent approximately 10% of the group’s total business, since for that year, the strategic plan foresees that Indra will invoice 10,000 million euros.
The creation of this subsidiary will be the starting signal to address the purchase of Hispasat, the satellite activity exploitation company controlled by the energy group Redeia.
To this end, Indra’s board will foreseeably authorize the company today to begin the formal acquisition process, as knowledgeable sources have confirmed to EXPANSIÓN. This means, among other things, the beginning of an exhaustive analysis process (due diligence) that has not yet been launched.
The price problem
One of the important obstacles that the attempted acquisition of Hispasat For Indra, the responsibility lies with agreeing on the price, since Indra believes that the value of Hispasat – like that of most conventional satellite businesses – has been reduced in recent years, something that Redeia will probably not agree with.
Redeia It definitively closed the acquisition of 89.68% of Hispasat on November 13, 2019, for 933 million euros. That meant valuing 100% of the company at 1,040 million euros.
After the acquisition of the electrical company, the shareholding of Hispasat It was distributed with 89.68% for Redeia, 7.41% for Sepi and 2.91% for the CDTI, the latter two state organizations dependent on the Government.
More competition
However, the strong increase in competition in the satellite segment – with the boom in low orbit projects, with starlink – is lowering the prices of these services. For example, Starlink is marketing its Internet access services in Spain at 29 euros/month, below the 35 euros of the price that its service is selling. Hispasatwhich receives a state subsidy to lower the price.
For this reason, the technology and defense company considers that now the most adjusted price of the satellite firm would be around 800 million euros, that is, 20% less than the price that Redeia paid five years ago. The final negotiation for Hispasat therefore appears complex.
However, the strong weight and influence that the Government has in both firms – although formally they are private – will predictably play a fundamental arbitration role between the two.
Redeia It is 20% owned by the state holding company Sepi -which depends on the Ministry of Finance directed by María Jesús Montero-, and which has a direct influence on the appointment of its leadership, headed by the former socialist Minister of Housing, Beatriz Corredor, since February 2020.
In the case of Indra, Sepi is the first shareholder with 28% of the capital and has three directors. Besides, his President is Marc Murtra, an executive linked to the PSC, and who is also a patron of the La Caixa Foundation.
Saint Barbara
On the other hand, among the plans that Indra manages to increase its presence in the defense business and become the great national champion of the sector, is the purchase of Santa Barbara Systemsthe military armor manufacturer owned by the American defense giant General Dymanics.
Turning Indra into the Spanish super industrial holding company for defence is one of the strategic objectives of the Government in this area and to this end it has appointed Indra as coordinator of the new FCAS fighter aircraft programme. Indra also wants to take control of the aircraft engine manufacturer in the medium term. ITP -owned by Bain Capital-in which it controls a 9.5% stake.
Santa Bárbara aligns itself with the Government
The Government, through the Ministry of Defense, continues to maneuver to strengthen Indra’s position as national champion in Defense. In fact, he met last week with directors of General Dynamics, owner of Santa Bárbara Sistemas, to face a possible acquisition of Indra or to give it greater power in the shareholding of the joint venture Tess Defense, which develops the armored vehicle. 8×8, along with Escribano and Sapa. To silence the rumors, Santa Bárbara yesterday issued an internal statement, to which this newspaper has had access, in which it acknowledged meetings with the Executive. “General Dynamics has expressed its commitment and alignment with the industrial policy of the Ministry of Defense,” reads the text, which adds that it is working with Tess partners “to strengthen the governance” of the consortium. “This strengthening will result in a more efficient execution of the programs awarded to Tess, as well as ensuring the presence of Santa Bárbara in them.”
