ACS Group Annual Report - Grupo ACS

Corporate StrategyHistory■ Construction■ Concessions■ Environment and Logistics■ Industrial Services■ EnergyThe ACS Group began operating in 1983when a group of engineers acquiredConstrucciones Padrós, a mid-sizedconstruction company with financialproblems located in Badalona (Catalonia).After restructuring this company, the samestrategy was employed with the acquisition ofOCISA, a prestigious construction companywhich was larger and had already been inoperation for over 40 years.At the end of the eighties, a diversificationprocess was initiated through the acquisitionof SEMI, a company specialised in themaintenance and installation of electricitylines. This process was continued with thepurchase of a majority shareholding in Cobra,one of the most renowned companies in thesector of support services to electricity andtelecommunications companies, and a marketleader with over 80 years’ experience.The first of the large company mergers tookplace in 1992 with the creation of OCP,which would be the seed for the Groupstructured as it is today. OCP became one ofthe leading construction company groups inSpain. A second large merger took place in1997, with the creation of ACS as a result ofOCP’s merger with Auxini and Ginés Navarro.At the end of the nineties, the Groupincorporated most of the companiesforming its current services area; Onyx,a provider of environmental services;Imes, a company dedicated to publiclighting services, integral maintenance andcontrol services; and Vertresa, the largestwaste treatment plant in Madrid.The turn of the century started with theintegration of the Dragados Group, whichpositioned the ACS Group as the indisputableleader in the Spanish market and as one themost important companies in the industry onthe European continent.Parallel to this entire integration process, theACS Group has established the basis for itsfuture strategy, focusing its activity on relevantsectors of the Spanish and European economy.In 2003, Abertis, one of the top companies ininfrastructure management, was created andthe Group has progressively increased its stakein this company since then.Later, in 2005, the Group established the basefor its Energy area with its investment in UniónFenosa and subsequently strengthened this areawith the purchase of a holding in Iberdrola in thelast quarter of 2006. These investments haveenabled ACS to position itself as a benchmarkindustrial company with two of the main energycompanies in the European market.Annual Report 2008 ACS Group14