Ángel Simón Grimaldos (Manresa, 1957) has resigned as non-executive chairman of Aigües de Barcelona, CriteriaCaixa said today in a statement.
The move comes at a time of transition for Grimaldos, who was appointed CEO of CriteriaCaixa in January this year. CriteriaCaixa, the investment holding company of ‘La Caixa’ Foundation, has been a shareholder of Aigües de Barcelona since 2014. The resignation comes ‘with the aim of assuming the position of Chief Executive with full dedication’.
Simón's resignation coincides with the recent publication in El Confidencial of a letter sent by the board of directors of Veolia Environnement, the largest shareholder of Aigües de Barcelona, in which they accuse CriteriaCaixa of disseminating erroneous information about a possible takeover of Agbar. In this letter, Veolia blames the holding company of La Caixa Foundation for being behind the publications suggesting that, after recent investments in Telefónica, ACS and Inmobiliaria Colonial, Simon Grimaldos’s next target would be Agbar. Helman le Pas de Sécheval, Secretary General of Veolia, warns in the letter that this alleged intention could be considered criminal.
According to El Economista, citing internal sources, no changes are foreseen in the board of Aigües de Barcelona or in CriteriaCaixa's stake in the company in the short term.
The resignation of Grimaldos, who took over as CEO of CriteriaCaixa in January and worked at Veolia until February this year, marks the end of an era at Aigües de Barcelona. The company now faces the challenge of embarking on a new phase without his leadership.
Read the original news in iAgua.
