The Government's bill to influence Telefónica: at least 1,400 million for a seat on the Council

ECONOMY / By Carmen Gomaro

The Government yesterday gave wings to Telefónica's action, by not ruling out the possibility of entering the company's capital. The minister spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, limited herself to pointing out the strategic nature of the company and underlining that she is not going to comment on “every information that is published” about the company, but at no time did she close the door to the operation, nor did others parties involved by the government such as the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI), which would be the one to take 5% of the capital.

The news reported by El Confidencial boosted the company's price by 3% in the early stages of the session, although the price finally stabilized, with a final rise of 1.15%.

The entry of the Government would serve as a counterweight to protect the strategic nature of Telefónica in the face of Saudi investment, which would reach 9.9% if it receives all authorizations from the Ministry of Defense, a deadline that has not yet been specified, although sources in the sector indicate to EL MUNDO that the operation follows the course announced on September 6.

Now, to equate its influence to that of STC Group, the Government could not remain at 5% of the capital, but should climb to at least 6.6%, the threshold that would give it the minimum numbers to obtain a seat. on the Board of Directors of Telefónica. The figures of the operation rise significantly to 1,400 million euros in a context in which it is expected that the Government will have to contract spending on the one hand and, on the other hand, a priori there are no items either in the budgets or in the Recovery Plan that allows the operation to fit.

To measure the effort that would be required for SEPI to undertake an operation of this category, the purchase of almost 10% of Indra to obtain a third director meant the disbursement of 173.5 million euros, eight times less than the operation proposed yesterday in which was the largest recent share purchase operation of the public entity in the capital markets.

If all the listed companies in which SEPI has a relevant position are taken into account, this hypothetical entry into Telefónica would be the third most valuable of the holding company, behind the 20% it owns in Redeia (the former Red Eléctrica) and 4.12% in Airbus. However, the nature of these investments derives primarily from the progressive privatization of Red Eléctrica's shareholding, in which SEPI sold shares until the current situation, and the creation of Airbus, which in Spain was established through the public company CASA, from which the current participation of SEPI derives, so these are operations that are difficult to compare with the return to ownership of Telefónica, from which it left in 1997.