Iberdrola Asks for Changes in Siemens Gamesa Leadership
05 April 2018 - 2:08PM
Dow Jones News
By Carlos Lopez Pera
MADRID--The chief executive of Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) has asked
his counterpart at Siemens AG (SIE.XE) for leadership changes at
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA (SGRE.MC) in a meeting this
week, according to a person familiar with the encounter.
Iberdrola's Ignacio Galan asked Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser on
Wednesday to replace Siemens Gamesa Chairwoman Rosa Garcia and
Chief Executive Marcus Tacke with independent directors.
According to the person, Iberdrola, which holds an 8% stake in
Siemens Gamesa, feels the company is becoming "one more subsidiary"
of Siemens, which holds 59%, and is unhappy about the situation.
Ms. Garcia currently heads Siemens Spain, while Mr. Tacke was
formerly in charge of Siemens Wind Power.
Siemens Gamesa, based in Zamudio, Spain, is a wind-turbine maker
that was formed through a merger of Siemens Wind Power and Spain's
Gamesa, in which Iberdrola was a major shareholder. As part of the
merger, Iberdrola and Siemens signed a shareholders' agreement that
the Spanish energy company feels is being breached. The person
familiar with the CEO meeting said Iberdrola has notified Spain's
market regulator of its unhappiness, a move which may eventually
unspool into legal action.
The friction between the two shareholders has been exacerbated
by the plunge in Siemens Gamesa shares last year in the wake of two
profit warnings, which prompted Mr. Galan to publicly question the
company's performance.
More recently, at Siemens Gamesa's annual general meeting last
month, Siemens voted down two Iberdrola proposals to protect
minority shareholders and ensure that the headquarters remain in
Spain. Mr. Kaeser met with Mr. Galan on Wednesday in an attempt to
soothe tensions between the companies.
This story was translated in whole or in part from a
Spanish-language version initially published by EFE Dow Jones, a
partner of Dow Jones & Co.
Alberto Delclaux in Barcelona contributed to this article.
Write to Carlos Lopez Perea a carlos.perea@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 05, 2018 07:53 ET (11:53 GMT)
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