The Board of Directors of Telefónica has approved the proposal of its President, Marc Murtrato name Juan Azcue Director of Finance and Corporate Development of the company. In addition, they have also approved the appointment of Ernesto Gardelliano as Director of Strategy and Control and member of the company’s Executive Committee.
With the appointment of Azcue, the group’s financial function and corporate development are unified, with the aim of having a more global and cohesive vision for the future. The manager has extensive experience in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), in which he has been participating for more than two decades. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of Telefónica since last January and has a degree in Economics and Business Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid.
He began his career in KPMG’s Madrid office in 1999, first in the audit section, and then in the Corporate Finance team. In 2004 he joined Telefónica’s Mergers and Acquisitions team. In it he has participated in the purchase of O2, the privatization of Cesky Telecom and the purchase of 50% of VIVO. In 2019 he became Director of the area, and since then he has been in charge of the execution of different strategic transactions, such as the merger of O2 with Virgin Media in the United Kingdom, or the sale of Telxius’s tower business.
As for Ernesto Gardelliano’s functions, they are also in line with the simplification of operations, since he will combine strategic planning and operational monitoring in one position. Gardelliano has almost 30 years of experience in different units and countries of the Telefónica Group.
In July 2017 he was appointed Director of Control and Planning of Telefónica SA. He has also been a member of the Supervisory Board of Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG since October 2020. Before joining Telefónica SA he was Financial Director of Telefónica Latin America in São Paulo (Brazil), and until December 2012 he was Director of Strategy and Business Development of Telefónica Digital in London. Gardelliano is a Public Accountant, graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and has a degree in Business Administration and Management from the Institute of Higher Studies of the Universidad Austral. As for Laura Abasolo, she will leave Telefónica at the end of the year.
On the other hand, with the objective of advancing in the implementation of the new operating model, Telefónica reinforces the functions of the CEO, who from now on will integrate the Purchasing and Supply Chain functions, as well as Alliances and Devices.
