Martifer SGPS, S.A. is a family group based in

Oliveira de Frades Oliveira de Frades () is a municipality in the district Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the Viseu District, district of the same name, with a population of 100,105 inhabitants in the e ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, with over 3,000 employees, focusing its activity on the metal construction and

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

areas. The company launched its first operations in 1990 in the metal structure industry. In 2004, it entered the renewables business, leveraging know-how from the metal construction operation to develop the energy equipment division. Martifer is a market leader in

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

for metal construction, and aims to become the top player in other specific markets, namely

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. In renewable energies, Martifer would like to become established as an integrated producer of turn-key solutions for the wind and solar segments. Furthermore, within renewable energies, Martifer operates as a promoter of electricity generation projects, with a portfolio of holdings in projects at different phases of development. Martifer SGPS, SA is the Group's holding company and has been listed on the Euronext Lisbon since June 2007. In 2008, its core activity operating revenues reached EUR 650 million. The main shareholder structure is made up of the founding partners, through I’M SGPS, S.A., and the Mota-Engil Group, both control approximately 80% of the company. In June 2009, Martifer and Hirschfeld Wind Energy Solutions, a part of Hirschfeld Industries in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, announced a

Joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

for the manufacture of wind towers and related components in the United States. The project cost was estimated to cost $40 million US dollars to build a new facility in San Angelo, Texas. Production was originally expected to reach a capacity of 400 towers a year by 2013. However, the operation was unable to compete effectively in the very difficult pricing environment for wind towers in the 2009-2011 time frame and the investment failed to reach its objectives. On July 18, 2012, Hirschfeld announced that it had acquired the remaining 50 percent of the joint venture from Martifer for a small cash payment, and as of 2014, had converted the plant to build steel bridge structures. The last wind tower was produced there in 2012.

History

The company was founded by two brothers, Carlos Martins and Jorge Martins in Oliveira de Frades, Central Portugal,. The enterprise has started with 18 employees. Today the group has worldwide 3,000 employees. Subsidiaries are in Spain (1999),

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(2003),

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

(2005),

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

(2005),

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

(2005), Germany (2005),

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

(2006) and

(2006).

References

External links

Official Website

* {{OpenCorp, Martifer Bioenergy companies Companies listed on Euronext Lisbon Construction and civil engineering companies of Portugal Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1990 Portuguese brands Portuguese companies established in 1990 Renewable energy technology companies 2007 initial public offerings