GCTAY Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (PK)

   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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