The Diplomat
The second vice president and acting Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, yesterday informed the first vice president Nadia Calviño that the Government “cannot consent” to the acquisition by the Saudi company STC of a 9.9% stake in the Telefónica company continues.
“My opinion is that we cannot allow this operation to continue. This is what I have conveyed to the economic vice president of the acting Government and that is how I am going to defend it,” Díaz said in statements to the media from Rome.
For Díaz, Spain must “think” about what the country’s strategic sectors are, who can be part of the boards of directors of those sectors and what the limits are. “Of course I will work to ensure that this operation does not occur,” she reiterated.
According to the leader of Sumar, “all countries regulate and standardize these situations” and she believes that Spain still has a lot to do in industrial matters, especially in relation to strategic sectors.
“Telefónica is a strategic company for our country. And as such a strategic company and with the management of what is surely the most important thing in our lives, which is data, -not only oil in the 21st century- and that everything lies in them, of course my opinion is that we cannot allow this operation to continue,” she insisted.
From the socialist sector of the Government, the statements are more moderate and yesterday the acting Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, assured that her department will study “very rigorously” the entry of the Saudi operator STC in Telefónica for “affecting a strategic sector that It’s defense.”
“The priority for us is that the national defense is always absolutely protected,” said Robles, in statements to the press after holding a video conference with army ships.
The minister said that “defense is essential and fundamental, and precisely the regulations that Spain has have wanted to be very strict when there are foreign investments that can accept defense and security.”
Robles explained that “no formal request has yet been submitted” to the Ministry of Defense to study the acquisition by the Saudi company STC of 9.9% of Telefónica, for a total amount of 2.100 million euros.
“Obviously, we are going to study it very rigorously, very carefully,” she said, before stressing that “the authorization has not yet been granted” by Defense to study this acquisition. “When it arrives we will analyze it with all rigor,” she insisted.
The CNMV and European regulations
For its part, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) will “verify” whether or not the Saudi group STC has correctly applied European regulations in the operation that has made it the main shareholder of Telefónica, according to sources from the supervisor told Europe Press.
Asked why the purchase of the share package and financial instruments contemplated in the operation -4.9% in shares and 5% in financial instruments- have gone unnoticed and have not been reflected in the CNMV records, the same sources answered that “there are specificities and partial exemptions.”
“Significant holdings and the duty to notify them are included in a European standard and in its Spanish transposition. There are some specificities and partial exemptions for the positions built by financial institutions. The CNMV will verify that the standard has been applied correctly in this case, as it could not be otherwise,” stated the CNMV.
In this sense, different sources pointed out that Morgan Stanley has been acquiring small packages of Telefónica titles for STC in recent months through subsidiaries and other investment vehicles, an issue that, according to various analysts, would also have served to sustain the price of the listing. of Telefónica, especially in August and after the setback that resulted in the loss of 1&1 as a wholesale customer in Germany.
These purchases of securities also explain the increase in the volume traded at Telefónica during the months of July and August, with more than 300 million.
The regulations include that banks have an exemption from the CNMV by which they do not have to register the shares in companies if they do not exceed 5% of the company’s share capital and are for trading.
In this context, the CNMV assures that it will “verify” that this acquisition of Telefónica shares complies with the regulations.
