ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. (Spanish pronunciation: [aθeˈese]) is a Spanish company dedicated to civil and engineering construction, all types services and telecommunications. It is one of the leading construction companies in the world, with projects in many countries around the world. The company was founded in 1997 through the merger of OCP Construcciones, S.A. and Ginés Navarro Construcciones, S.A. The group has a presence in Germany, India, Brazil, Chile, Morocco and Australia. The headquarters are in Madrid and the chairman is Florentino Pérez. Listed on the Bolsa de Madrid, the company’s shares form part of the IBEX 35 stock market index.
History
The company was formed when a team of engineers acquired Construcciones Padrós S.A., a construction business which had been in financial difficulty, in 1983. The company acquired a majority holding in Cobra, a support services business, and merged with OCISA S.A. to create OCP Construcciones, S.A. in 1993; it went on to merge with Ginés Navarro Construcciones, S.A. to create Grupo ACS in 1997.[3] It subsequently bought Onyx SCL, an environmental contractor, in 1999 and stakes in Xfera and Broadnet, telecommunications businesses, in 2000 before going on to acquire Dragados S.A., a large contractor established during World War II to dredge the Port of Tarifa and which had subsequently gained extensive experience in hydro-electric and civil engineering work, in 2003.[4]
In 2006 the company acquired 22.0% of Unión Fenosa (raised later to 45%), a leading utilities business, before divesting it to Gas Natural in 2008,[5] and in 2011, Grupo ACS raised its stake in Hochtief to 50.16%, effectively acquiring the company.[6]