Abengoa S.A. | Diversified Success in the 2000s
Diversified Success in the 2000s
In the meantime, Abengoa also had launched its entry into the energy market, choosing to build a presence in the market for renewable fuels. The company's first effort in the renewable energy market was in the operation of a wind farm, based on the company's own proprietary technology. The company then launched construction of a bioethanol plant. Completed in 2000, at an investment of EUR 94 million ($80 million), the plant initially produced 100 million liters per year, before rising to 150 million liters by 2005. The success of this plant led Abengoa to sell off its wind farm operations in 2001, to The Netherlands' Nuon, raising nearly EUR 110 million. Abengoa then used the proceeds of the sale to boost its ethanol operations, buying up High Plains Corporation, in the United States, for EUR 100 million in 2002. High Plains was then renamed as Abengoa Bioenergy Inc. In that year, as well, Abengoa added a second Spanish ethanol plant, in Galicia, with a production capacity of 126 million liters per year.
In 1999, Abengoa had launched Telecom Ventures, or Telvent, which took over from Sainco as Abengoa targeted an expansion into the wider telecommunications arena. Telvent also became responsible for Abengoa's systems and networks operations, which were relaunched under the new brand names Abentel, Carrierhouse, and Internet Datahouse. The company added a number of new brands, including Telvent Interactiva in 2000 and Telvent Outsourcing in 2002. In 2003, Telvent acquired Mesto Corporation's Network Management Solutions divisions, based in the United States and Canada. Soon after, Telvent rebranded its operations, placing all of its business under the single Telvent banner. This led to Telvent's public offering, in 2004, with a listing on the NASDAQ.
By the end of that year, Abengoa had become a much different company from what it had been just ten years earlier. The company's sales had nearly quadrupled, nearing EUR 1.7 billion ($2.1 billion). The company also had succeeded in reducing reliance on its original construction and engineering business. While this unit remained the company's largest, at nearly 43 percent of sales, Abengoa had gained a strong presence in its new Energy and Environmental Services, while expanding its Information Technologies operations as well. Abengoa appeared to have engineered strong growth for the new century.