Privatization in reverse: Spain buys 10% of Telefònica and becomes the largest shareholder again

The Spanish state will purchase up to 10% of the social capital and of Telefónica to "safeguard its strategic capabilities". SEPI, the treasury holding company that controls Madrid's state holdings, reported this in a relevant communication sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) . A movement that occurs in the midst of the entry process of the Saudi STC and which had raised many doubts in the government of Pedro Sánchez; SEPI, under the control of the Ministry of Finance, will become the largest shareholder. The state had exited the telecommunications company 24 years ago.

At the current share price, the state would have to shell out more than 2 billion euros to become a shareholder with the 10% it wants. Telefónica, at the close of the market, had a price per share of 3.56 euros.

« We inform you that the Council of Ministers in today's session resolved to order the State Company of Industrial Participations («SEPI») to carry out the acquisition of up to 10% of the share capital of the company Telefónica , SA (Telefónica)”, as per the document sent by the stock market supervisory authority. «With a vocation for permanence, SEPI's participation will allow Telefónica to guarantee greater stability to shareholders so that the company achieves its objectives and, therefore, contributes to safeguarding its strategic capabilities. SEPI will proceed to implement the procedures and actions that will allow the start of the process to complete, while minimizing the impact on the price, the acquisition of the necessary volume of shares ,” added the public body.

The operation was communicated to the CNMV but it was not discussed in the press conference after the Council of Ministers. The Ministry of Finance sent a statement in which it underlines "the extensive deployment of telecommunications infrastructures that guarantee connectivity and digital services to Spanish citizens and businesses" available to Telefónica, underlining the company's presence also in the Defense sector.

The Spanish state thus not only enters into an important company in Spain, but into a telecommunications group that is spread throughout Latin America with Movistar.

This decision continues the line already underway in other European countries, such as France , where the State has reacquired 100% of EDF, the national energy company, in order to be able to guide national energy policy and, above all, define the energy prices.

The article Privatization in reverse: Spain buys 10% of Telefònica and becomes the largest shareholder again comes from Economic Scenarios .

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/privatizzazione-al-contrario-la-spagna-si-compra-il-10-di-telefonica-e-diventa-di-nuovo-primo-azionista/ on Tue, 19 Dec 2023 19:50:08 +0000.