Since, late on a Tuesday afternoon, the Saudi operator STC Group will notify the National Stock Market Commission (CNMV) the purchase of 9.9% of Telefónica It’s been just a month. 30 days in which few details have transcended beyond those revealed by the investor when it issued a notification to the market supervisor in which it revealed the figures of the operation and showed its confidence in the current management team.
The operation It involved the acquisition of almost 10% of capitaljust below the anti-takeover shield, for 2.1 billion euros and was implemented through the purchase of 4.9% directly and 5% through financial instruments held by Morgan Stanleywho discreetly acquired securities to put together the purchase.
Since then there have hardly been any big events. A visit from the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-Palleteto Riyadh and an ordinary council at Telefónica in which the operation was explained to the directors and of which not many details have emerged.
The lack of progress has been such that STC Group has not even formally issued the approval request to the Ministry of Defense that he needs to directly control 9.9% of Telefónica. The operator’s ties to various strategic aspects of state defense make this procedure necessary, which could be avoided if the group renounced exercising political rights in the Spanish company or appointing a director. However, it is assumed that STC Groupcontrolled by the country’s sovereign fund, will end up notifying the operation, foreseeably already with a Government formed in the event that elections are not repeated.
The need for the Saudi landing to have government authorization has caused enormous friction in the Executive. The Sumar and Podemos wing, headed by the second vice president, Yolanda Diazhas not only been fiercely against the investment of the Arab country, but has also tried, during negotiations, to revive the debate on the need for the presence of the State in the country’s large strategic companies.