Spain's Finest
Grupo Villar Mir,a construction and fertilizer conglomerate, was awarded the Grand Prix in Spain's second Best of European Business competition on October 18. Spain's Minister of Industry, Joan Clos, presided over the gala event featuring more than 130 of the country's top business representatives and leading politicians in the prestigious Casino de Madrid. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Grand Prix award to Juan Miguel Villar Mir, President of Grupo Villar Mir, who had skillfully combined growth and European expansion into a successful strategy, according the high-level jury of the country's business leaders and leading academics. This is the second time the "Best of European Business" (BEB) competition has been held in Spain and for some of the evening's winners, it was a familiar honor. Telecom giant Telefónica, winner of a BEB European award in Brussels last year, claimed the top spot in the competition's 'Cross-border M&A' prize category. Fertiberia, one of Grupo Villar Mir's subsidiary companies, was awarded the SME prize in the same category. | ||||
When Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica's Executive President, Guillermo Ulacia, took the stage to receive his award from Ángel Corcóstegui, former CEO of Banco Santander, he was also familiar with the procedure. His company's outstanding achievement in the 'Growth' category had continued from 2005, when it claimed the same award. SME winner in that category was ornamental stone producer, COSENTINO. The third prize category for the 2006 competition is 'Europeanness.' Construction company Grupo Ferrovial claimed the prize in the large enterprise category, while automotive components producer, Ficosa International was awarded the SME prize. The jury, composed of members of Spain's business and academic elite, including Jordi Canals, Dean of the IESE Business School and Amparo Moraleda, President of IBM Spain, felt that both companies were pursuing a successful European expansion strategy. The Best of European Business award series is an annual, pan-European competition held by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants with the support of academic partner, IESE, and national media partner, ABC. The aim of the competition is to honor best practice examples, contributing to the achievement of the EU's ambitious Lisbon Agenda goals. Interest in the competition has grown considerably in this second year, with three additional countries participating in the series, bringing the total to ten. In March 2007, the pan-European winners of the series will be presented as part of the European Business Summit in Brussels. | ||||
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Spain's Minister of Industry, Joan Clos, was insistent on the importance of Europe and requested that "the companies and their managers to put more passion in building more Europe." He also said "this process of building Europe will naturally be marked by positive developments, such as the Euro, and setbacks, such as the European Constitution, but we have to be very conscious that we are moving towards an unknown destination, tackling the challenge of forging a true European Union, which has no historical predecessors." | ||||
And the winners are..
Growth Renewable energy is the Gamesa Corp. Tecnológica's business focus. The company is one of the biggest manufacturers and suppliers of technologically advanced products, services and installations in the renewable energies market. A winner in the same category last year, it achieved a compound annual growth rate of 24% between 2001 and 2005, with total shareholder return of 30% between 2000 and 2005. Gamesa is the market leader in aero generators in Spain and China, with a strong presence in the USA, France, Germany and Portugal. The SME winner in this category was ornamental stone producer, COSENTINO. The company demonstrated a strong growth rate of 39% between 2001 and 2005 and was praised for its strong focus on international distribution (70% of revenues) and investments in R%D. 'Europeanness' (Europe strategies) Gruppo Ferrovial nudged out the competition from Inditex and Santander in this category. The construction company shows a strong presence in six European countries, where it makes 35% of its turnover and has 28% of its employees. The 2006 acquisition of BAA made Ferrovial the global leader in airport infrastructure management, cementing its internationalization. In the SME section of this award, Ficosa International went home the winner. The automotive components manufacturer has 27 production plants in 18 countries, with a strong European presence. More than 40% of its turnover is generated in the nine European countries where it has dependencies. It provides parts to automotive manufacturers including the Volkswagen Group, Fort, Renault/Nisssan, FIAT Group and GM. The jury applauded Ficosa's international expansion, which has been a core development strategy since 1988. Cross-border M&A Telephone giant, Telefónica, last year's winner of the European BEB award in the telecommunications category walked away with the large enterprise award in the Cross-border M&A category. The jury highlighted its successful acquisitions of O2 and Cesky Telecom as key reasons for choosing Telefónica. These buy-ups represented a "clear move toward increasing its European presence," according to jury members. Previously, the company had focused largely on the Latin American market. Fertiberia, the fertilizer manufacturer, was honored in the SME segment of this category. Jury members highlighted its acquisition of 66% of fertilizer companies Fertial and Alzofert. These had allowed the Spanish market leader to position itself as a key European player. Grand Prix The Grand Prix of the competition was awarded to Grupo Villar Mir. Established in 1987, Grupo Villar Mir (GVM) is the largest Spanish family-owned industrial group with international activities. Its worldwide presence covers Latin America, North America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia in its various activities. GVM is involved in construction, property, fertilizers, ferro-alloys, energy production, engineering and IT systems. The jury awarded this special prize to the company, citing its means of creating growth throughout Europe, through its operations with OHL, Fertiberia and Ferroatlátlantica. The company ranked number one in the country in terms of acquisitions with relevant operations of these subsidiaries. Grupo Villar Mir had become the EU leader in the fertilizer sector and number three in Spain in the construction business. The jury praised its knowledge and expertise in turning around non-profitable companies in mature, competitive sectors. If you have questions or comments regarding this, or any other story, please do not hesitate to contact us:  | ||||
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