Former Gas Natural Chairman Gabarro Dies

Salvador Gabarro, the chairman of Spanish utility Gas Natural for 12 years until November 2016, died in the morning of March 17 in Barcelona at the age of 81, the company has announced.

He was appointed a director of Gas Natural in July 2003 and its chairman in October 2004 and five years later presided over its takeover of Union Fenosa, transforming the group into a fully integrated gas and electricity group. When he retired last year, he was made GN’s honorary president. His successor as chairman Isidro Faine conveyed his and the board's condolences to Gabarro's family.

(Credit: GN)

Gabarro (pictured above) was appointed to GN by the influential Catalan savings bank La Caixa, a core shareholder in the Spanish utility, and was first vice chairman of La Caixa itself until June 2014. The latter appointed him to GN because he was a graduate engineer who had held a prominent role in Catalan manufacturing industry for decades until 2000.

Mark Smedley