On January 4th, 1941, Javier Benjumea Puigcerver and José Manuel Abaurre Fernández-Pasalagua, both engineers at the Catholic Institute of Art and Industry (ICAI), joined by three friends and other family members, founded the Sociedad Abengoa, S.L., a company with a share capital of 180,000 pesetas (1.082 euros), in Seville. Initially, the aim of Abengoa was to manufacture a 5-ampere monophasic meter; however, the supply problems that Spain suffered at the time made the project inviable. This, together with the significant new opportunities that began to arise, led Abengoa to change its horizons in 1943, focusing its dedication to technical projects and studies, as well as electrical installations.
With a rich history of over 50 years, the following are noteworthy among the different stages in the life of Abengoa:
Founding period (between 1941 and 1950): Abengoa began to develop its first activities and started expanding throughout Andalusia. Revenue exceeded 45 million pesetas (270,456 euros) at the time.
Period of national expansion and consolidation (between 1951 and 1960): Abengoa's most significant activities were conducted at the national level, promoting its expansion throughout Spain. Abengoa was in the process of consolidating its operations and, in this decade, revenue exceeded 827 million pesetas (4,970.371 euros).
Period of entry into the international market (between 1961 and 1970): Abengoa began to develop its activities in the international market. In this decade Abengoa celebrated its 25th anniversary with revenue totaling 4.88 billion pesetas (29,329,391 euros).
Period of uninterrupted growth (between 1971 and 1990): Abengoa's business continued to grow during these years, while adapting to new market demands at the same time. As a result of this constant development, new specialized companies were born with a trajectory characterized by the following motto: "innovation as the standard, with the very best customer service". Revenue went beyond 5.2396 billion pesetas (314,906,303 euros).
Innovation period (between 1991 and 2003): starting at the beginning of the nineties, Abengoa focused its development and innovation on the segments of information technology, renewable energy sources, biofuels, and respect for the environment. Abengoa celebrated the end of the millennium with revenue of over 144 billion pesetas (865,457.431 euros). The evolvement from the "conventional" product line based on assembly and installation within the industrial, energy and telecommunications sectors, or closely linked to limited markets, to the "range of differentiated activities", with a greater technological component, marked Abengoa's extraordinary progression at this stage.
With a remarkable vision of the future, Abengoa was able to translate all of these changes into a project for reorganizing its business activities and updating its organizational structure, taking on a more flexible strategy, with the capacity to adapt itself to the evolution in new markets. Upon this structure, the current organization is made up of the following business groups: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technologies and Engineering and Industrial Construction.
Abengoa is a technology company that applies innovative solutions for sustainability in the infrastructure, environmental and energy sectors, bringing long-term value to our shareholders through a management model characterized by encouragement of entrepreneurship, social responsibility, and transparent and effective management.
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