Fund desks: Cayetano Sanchez Butrón’s team urgently convened the governing bodies of Fundesem in Alicante to discuss the center’s future as Ivace’s decision to terminate the contract looms. Sanchez Butrón says he holds the lease for the headquarters and is demanding payment of a debt currently at 1.65 million euros. He described the move as a surprise and noted that no prior demands had been received. He labeled the offer to transfer some facilities to the European University to run four health degrees and joint master’s programs as incomprehensible, asserting that Ivace did not accept the proposal.
In response, the leadership chose to gather the decision-making bodies of Fundesem. On a Wednesday, the Board of Directors was summoned, and on Thursday the limited partnership participants will be addressed. The foundation, formed at the start of the year to streamline training activities, will meet again on Monday to review the center’s governance, with the foundation ultimately bearing responsibility for the facility. Activities at the center are expected to continue as usual, according to the head of Fundesem.
“We had a solid financial path through a third party, the European University, yet the agreement was not approved”, Sanchez Butrón said. He added that one of the main beneficiaries of the alternative plan involved the regional manager who will oversee the debt collection. He claimed the private university center deal would have produced around a million dollars in revenue, about 400,000 euros annually, well above the 180,000 euros per year Fundesem is required to pay Ivace. In his view, this arrangement would have enabled the full settlement of the debt well before it matured. [Cited by Fundesem leadership]
Fundesem’s headquarters is located on Deportistas Hermanos Torres street in Alicante. Hector Fuentes provided a descriptive caption for this location.
Contrary to comments by Economy Minister Rafa Climent, the head of Fundesem asserts that Ivace has discussed the proposal since February and that approval came from the City Council, which owns the land where the building sits. He emphasizes his stance on the potential options for the center when it comes to engaging its social audience, a group comprising executives and patrons numbering over one hundred people. The question remains whether the center should inject resources immediately to stabilize the situation or pursue a different path, including closure. Although the total debt is stated as 1.65 million euros, the head of Fundesem notes that the portion still owed has not yet reached 500,000 euros and that the specifics of the Ivace clause remain undisclosed. Communication has officially arrived, and the situation continues to evolve.
The third option under consideration could be to attract a resolute investor, although this remains the least likely scenario at present.
The future of Fundesem points to a potential new direction in the summer and a strategic plan for September. The school’s challenges are set against the backdrop of the housing market burst and the disappearance of CAM and Bancaja, which previously supplied a large share of Fundesem’s students and income. In 2011, rent payments stopped after reaching an agreement with Generalitat, the building’s owner, which sits on land transferred by the city council. After years of hardship, a refinancing agreement with Ivace was reached in 2019, leading to a change in leadership and the appointment of Cayetano Sánchez Butrón as president of the foundation steering the center.
The pandemic disrupted the school’s reboot plans, but Fundesem sought to diversify its income through an agreement with the European University, which aimed to establish a permanent presence in Alicante. Those responsible at Fundesem anticipated that Ivace would address the mandate of this agreement on a Wednesday. Instead, Ivace decided to terminate the autonomous body’s rental agreement and to pursue the debt, a move that has intensified discussions about the center’s road ahead.