ACCIONA proposes mexican businessman Jerónimo Gerard to the company’s board of directors

ACCIONA's board of directors has proposed the appointment of Mexican businessman Jerónimo Marcos Gerard Rivero as a new external independent director.

The board has also nominated Carmen Becerril as an external, non-independent director. Becerril, currently ACCIONA's International Director General, will step down from her executive role in May 2014.

Both nominations will be submitted to the AGM for ratification on June 24^th in Alcobendas (Madrid).

Gerard, President and CEO of Grupo Mexico Retail Properties (MRP), is the first Mexican businessman to be named to the board of ACCIONA, a Spanish blue-chip company and a global leader in the provision of renewable energy, infrastructure, water and services that actively contribute to sustainable development.

His appointment reflects the growing importance of Mexico for ACCIONA. The Company established itself in Mexico in 1978 and has since developed landmark projects in renewable energy, water and infrastructure, and invested over €1.10 billion (18.6 billion pesos) in the country.

Gerard, 43, has a degree in Economics from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and a Master in Business Administration from Stanford University. He currently serves as President and CEO of Grupo Mexico Retail Properties (MRP), a company dedicated to the development, acquisition and management of commercial real estate with a portfolio of over US$ 2 billion.

Among the many positions he currently holds, he is a director of AMEXCAP, vice president of the Mexican Association of Real Estate and Infrastructure Funds (AMFII), Member of the Board of Directors of the Mexican Stock Exchange and of Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo SAB, responsible for private investment funds in Mexico for "The Latin America Enterprise Fund," president of Infraestructura Institucional (Institutional Infrastructure) and director of Telefónica Mexico.

Between 2000 and 2006, Gerard was the CFO of Telefónica Móviles Mexico, the second mobile telephone operator in the country, having previously worked as CEO of the B2B division of Telefónica in Latin America. Prior to that, he worked for Goldman Sachs in New York, specializing in M​​&A transactions.

With a workforce of over 1,000 employees in Spain and a strong commitment to sustainable development, ACCIONA is the main producer of wind energy in Mexico, with 556.5 MW installed at four wind farms in Oaxaca, which represented 28% of Mexico's operating wind capacity at the end of 2013. The Company will soon begin construction of the Ventikas wind farms in the state of Nuevo León, with a combined capacity of 252 MW, for a group of investors led by The Blackstone Group and Cemex.

ACCIONA also contributes to Mexico's energy security with the design, construction and operation of power plants for the Federal Electricity Commission and with hydroelectric plants for private clients.

In Atotonilco, in the state of Hidalgo, ACCIONA is building the largest wastewater treatment plant in the world. It will treat the effluent of half of the 18 million inhabitants of Mexico City.

ACCIONA is also involved in the development of various infrastructure projects in Mexico, where it has been particularly active in the construction, management and maintenance of hospitals. Today, ACCIONA is currently building the first general hospital of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in the city of Nogales (Sonora), which will have 144 beds and be built to international sustainable construction standards.

In addition to its business activities, ACCIONA is actively involved in a number of sustainable development and health initiatives in the communities in which it operates. The most important of these is Luz en Casa Oaxaca (Light at Home Oaxaca), which aims to provide a basic electricity service to isolated rural villages. The program aims to install solar home systems for 9,000 families by 2016, and is supported by ACCIONA Microenergía Mexico, the Oaxaca State Government and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.