The Board of Trustees of the Ramón Areces Foundation agreed yesterday unanimously to appoint Marta Álvarez, the president of El Corte Inglés, as president, thus reinforcing her control over the group since, in addition to controlling 22% through the patrimonial Cartera de Valores Iasa, she assumes now in command of the Foundation, which is the first shareholder with 37.39% of the capital. Álvarez, who replaces Florencio Lasaga, who will continue as trustee, has been appointed at the proposal of her sister, the vice president, Cristina Álvarez. However, the organization highlights in a statement that her appointment “has been endorsed by all the trustees of the Foundation.”
El Corte Inglés thus consolidates its shareholding stability and cohesion in the capital. With this appointment, the old model is also recovered, the person who chairs the group also occupies the presidency of the Foundation.
In fact, after its constitution in 1976, Ramón Areces was president of both organizations until his death in 1989. And from that year on, Isidoro Álvarez also held those two positions, until he died in 2014.
At that moment, however, a change took place and although Dimas Gimeno became the company’s president, the Foundation remained chaired by Florencio Lasaga, group director and man of the highest confidence of Isidoro Álvarez.
arrival at the presidency
Marta Álvarez, daughter of former president Isidoro Álvarez, became president of El Corte Inglés in 2019. The Álvarez sisters forced the replacement of their cousin Dimas Gimeno in the presidency, as well as his departure from the board of directors, naming Jesús in his place Nuño de la Rosa in 2018, who barely lasted a year in office.
Agreement with Gimeno
The Board of Directors of El Corte Inglés has reached an agreement this year for the acquisition of the shares of Dimas Gimeno and his mother in the capital of the holding company IASA, corresponding to 13% and 9%, respectively.
The operation, which is equivalent to 5% of El Corte Inglés, was established on the price of 145 million euros, which has been proposed by the selling party. This amount is equivalent to a 71% discount on the amount paid in 2015 by the Qatari investor Al Thani to get 10% of the capital. The discount would be more than 60% in relation to the last valuation made in the last bond issue, when the company was valued at 7,000 million.
“The valuation of the sellers has taken into account that it is a minority stake in said company,” they explained at that time in El Corte Inglés.
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