The Glovo mystery: Controversial takeover bid for the first housing developer
A couple of weeks ago, at the celebration of Glovo's tenth anniversary, the presence of Salvador Illa , the president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Pepe Álvarez , general secretary of the UGT (Union of Workers' Unions), and Javier Pacheco , recently appointed general secretary of the CC.OO. (Working Councils of Catalonia) in the process of being a surprise, was a mystery to most. Josep Sánchez Llibre was also present, although in this case his attendance was normal; he is the president of Foment (Foment), and the platform is one of its affiliates. A long and secretive negotiation process emerged, the conclusion of which implied that Glovo was committed both to converting thousands of its raiders into employees and to reforming its own corporate structure to integrate, organize, and therefore make it more transparent. It also implied that it was committed to negotiating a collective agreement with the unions. Their presence publicly endorsed the pact. In recent months, Glovo has regularized around 14,000 workers. This marks the end of a long dispute between the company, led by its CEO, Oscar Pierre , and his other co-founder , Sacha Michaud , and unions and the government over its employment relationship model. In 2021, the unions called a strike against it. Since 2022, more than 95% of Glovo's capital has been in the hands of the German company Delivery Hero. Along the way, the company's employment relations scheme was declared illegal by the Supreme Court and in 2021 the Ministry of Labor, headed by Yolanda Díaz , approved a decree declaring that workers like those at Glovo were salaried employees. At the end of June, a ruling by Barcelona's 11th Social Court was made public, condemning 3,572 employees to regularize their status, stemming from inspections carried out between 2015 and 2018, at the request of Social Security. The ruling concerned past practices. Around the same time, a hearing was being held on a complaint for unfair competition filed by a competitor, Just Eat. The negotiations that culminated in the celebration of Glovo's tenth anniversary began at the sector level in October 2022, and a meeting was held at the Ministry of Labor in January 2024, attended by Yolanda Díaz, the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez , Sánchez Llibre, and Sacha Michaud. There were several more meetings. At the same time, the company met with the CC.OO. (Working Council of Workers) and the UGT (General Workers' Union). This process did not halt either the legal changes or the complaints. Sources at Glovo declined to comment on those meetings. Now the work needs to be completed, and the unions are awaiting the establishment of a committee to verify that the company's changes are progressing as agreed and that a collective bargaining agreement is being negotiated. Despite this commitment, the committee has yet to see the light of day.
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A significant takeover bid is also unfolding in Spain, but it hasn't been the focus of media attention. Neinor Homes, with the support of Apollo, launched a bid for Aedas Homes for just over €1 billion. The peculiarity of this case is that the target of the bid, Aedas, is Spain's leading housing developer. The company led by David Martínez delivers more than 5,000 homes annually. With the takeover bid, Neinor, a company controlled by several investment funds and whose CEO is Borja García-Egoetxaga , will swallow up its main competitor. This comes after having already acquired other companies in the sector. In compliance with the duty of passivity imposed by stock market regulations, Aedas is limiting itself to observing the progress of the takeover bid, as stated by its president, Santiago Fernández Valbuena , at last week's shareholders' meeting. The problem with this type of operation is that it involves the gradual control of a socially critical sector like housing by investment funds that have their own financial criteria and may conflict with public housing promotion policies.
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