The Escribano brothers have contacted sovereign funds in the Middle East as a preliminary step towards a potential IPO for EM&E. The operation would involve selling 49% of the capital and raising around €1 billion.
The Escribano brothers have reached out to several sovereign funds in the Middle East to gauge their interest in EM&E, the family defence company, as an alternative to merging with Indra. According to Vozpópuli, citing sources familiar with the operation, the contacts are seeking both a partial purchase of the company and entry as institutional investors in a stock market debut.
The investment bank JPMorgan has prepared a roadmap to take EM&E public by placing 49% of the capital, which would allow for the extraction of around €1 billion. With this valuation, the company would approach the €2.3 billion that the entrepreneurs aimed to set in a potential merger with Indra.
Ángel Escribano admitted in an interview with Bloomberg that he is considering the IPO, although no decision has been made and no timeline has been set. According to consulted sources, the operation could extend for one year.
The contacts are focused on Abu Dhabi and Oman. In 2022, the family purchased a 32% stake in EM&E from the Omani sovereign fund to regain 100% of the capital, and has since maintained a close relationship with that country.
“We are moving forward with the international expansion of the company in the Emirates and in the UK, where we are setting up a factory.”
Two-thirds of EM&E's revenue comes from abroad, with clients in Gulf countries. The company aims to continue growing in both markets.
The merger with Indra is currently blocked. Since the Government forced Ángel Escribano's exit during Holy Week, negotiations with Sepi, which controls 28% of Indra, have gone through various stages. The entrepreneurs sold their 14% stake in Indra and left the board, making it increasingly difficult for EM&E to be part of the group in the short term.
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