Ascendum Group opens facilities in Mexico

Friday, November 30, 2012

The Ascendum group has opened facilities in Mexico and expects a turnover of €100 million in 2015.

•   Investment of 15 million Euros;
•   Open 20 business units by 2014.

The Ascendum Group recently opened the doors to its facilities in the capital of Mexico, Mexico City, where it has been operating since March of this year. It is yet another country to add to its portfolio of geographies in which it already operates — Portugal, Spain, the United States and Turkey.

Its entry into Mexico represents an investment of €15 million and the group expects this sub-holding to reach a turnover of €100 million in 2015. The Mexican example breaks with traditional strategy for internationalization used until today, as operation does not begin with the acquisition of a local company, as per usual, but, rather, is being built from the ground up. 

During the first nine months of activity, 80 workers were hired, investments were made in the construction of facilities in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. All under the supervision of the CEO of Ascendum Mexico, Marco Liz, aided by a management team of excellence.

Considered by many as “a diamond in the rough, waiting to be polished”, the Mexican market could result in an opportunity for success for the Group, although the risk is great. This is why, Ricardo Mieiro, Chairman of the Executive Board is cautious, but also “confident that the team will, once again, show the perseverance and tenacity needed to succeed”.

“We will carefully study the specificities of the local market in order to properly adapt”, explains Ricardo Mieiro, who at this time does not yet know if the deployment strategy in the Mexican market will include a local partner.

The Ascendum Group is currently one of the largest global distributors of Volvo Construction Equipment for sectors such as construction, the transformation and extractive industry, mining and forestry. Recycling as well as equipment for airports, ports and railways are other target segments in which the Ascendum Group specializes. In 2012, the Portuguese company had a turnover of €500 million and an EBITDA of €50 million.