Fierro Group

Grupo Iberoamericano de Fomento or Grupo IF

Type	Private
Industry	Banking Industrial
Headquarters	Spain
Products	Banking Services Liquors Matches Foods more...
Revenue	$ ??? billion (2008)
Operating income	$ ??? billion (2008)
Net income	$ ??? billion (2008)
Number of employees	??? (2008)
Subsidiaries	Banco Exterior (Venezuela) Tanasa (Venezuela) Banco Interamericano de Finanzas (Peru) Fosforera Nacional (Venezuela) more...

The IF Group also known as Grupo Iberoamericano de Fomento or Grupo Fierro is an old Economic Group that originated in Spain and has investments in Spain and Latin America, mostly in the Industrial and Financial sectors. The Fierro Group was founded by the Spanish Entrepreneur and billionaire Ildefonso Fierro. Mr Fierro is one of the most important and influential businessman in Spain. The group is worth over 4 billion USD with an annual net income in excess of 300 million USD.

They started operations in Peru in 1961, when they installed a factory of matches, product in which they are one of the leaders in the world. In 2001 the leader of the Fierro Group in Peru was Manuel Isabal Roca, and had 18 companies, some of which are: BIF (Banco Interamericano de Finanzas), Fosforera Peruana, Tabacalera Nacional, Aval, Representaciones Alpamayo, Filtros del Perú, Destilería Peruana, Tabacalera del Sur, Industrial Cartavio, Verona Trading and Fosforera La Llama. That year, they employed about 5,000 between all their companies.

In Venezuela, in 1991 they owned: Tabacalera Nacional (TANASA) today owned by Philip Morris, Fosforera Venezolana, S.A., Alimentos La Giralda, Banco Exterior. Nowadays, Fierro Group in Venezuela (also known as Grupo Industrial Farallón de Venezuela: GIFVEN) has the first place of share market on match industry sales being also owners of different companies such as FOSUCA and DIFSA. Fierro Group companies had Factories such as Lander & Vera and Alimentos La Giralda which produce and distribute different manufactured goods related to liquors and canned food. Its most recognized brands are Fosforos el Sol, La Giralda, Ponche Imperial, Ruskaya, Licores Lander & Vera, among others.

In Ecuador, on October 24, 1958 Mr. Ignacio Fierro founded the company Fosforera Ecuatoriana S.A. (FESA) since then other companies were created: Tabacalera Nacional S.A. (Tanasa),^[1] Banco Internacional, Seguros Cervantes, Grafandina S.A., Industria Licorera Iberoamericana S.A. (ILSA),^[2] PetroSud (Consorcio PetroSud-PetroRiva). In 2008 the leader of the Fierro Group in Ecuador was José Enrique Fuster Camps.

In August 2013, Francisco "Paco" Roche Navarro "retired" as leader of the Grupo IF banking division. Ex-BBVA Vicente de la Parra was brought in to lead the banking division. The Banks are composed of Banco Exterior (Venezuela), Banco Internacional (Ecuador), EBNA Bank (Curaçao), Interbanco (Guatemala), International Finance Bank (United States) and BanBif (Peru).

International presence

• Spain
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Colombia
• Guatemala
• Ecuador
• Peru
• Thailand
• Venezuela
• The United States of America

References

1. {Shares acquired fully by Philip Morris in 2005}
2. {Shares acquired fully by Grupo IF in 2008}