Sociedad Comercial del Plata
Encyclopedia
Sociedad Comercial del Plata (BCBA
: COME) is a diversified Argentine holding company
, with interests primarily in the energy, rail transport, real estate, and tourism sectors.
on June 7, 1927, and became a holding company with varied interests, primarily real estate
. Francisco Soldati (a nephew of José Francisco Soldati, the owner of the city's largest utility, the Italian-Argentine Electric Company, and founder of the Villa Lugano
ward of Buenos Aires) bought controlling interest in SCP in 1965, and expanded the company into petroleum transport; he ultimately lost his life in a November 1979 bombing carried out by the far-left Montoneros
terrorist group, in one of their last attacks.
His son, Francisco, became President of SCP in 1976. SCP remained focused on its fuel and electricity, and established a realty, Del Plata Propiedades, though the group's growth was hampered by the debt and inflation crisis in the local economy during the 1980s. The younger Francisco Soldati died in a polo
accident in April 1991.
His younger brother, Santiago Soldati
, took control of SCP at a time when Argentine President Carlos Menem
and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo
were advancing an ambitious privatization
s policy. SCP became a minority shareholder in newly privatized television, telephone
, natural gas
, electricity
, freight rail
services, as well as the metro Buenos Aires water utility
. These became Telefé
, Telefónica de Argentina, Transportadora de Gas del Norte, Transener
, Ferroexpreso Pampeano
and Aguas Argentinas, respectively, during the early 1990s. SCP also gained control of water utilities in Córdoba
, La Plata
, and Santa Fe
.
Soldati invested part of SCP's earnings into two tourist attractions: the Tren de la Costa
railway, and the Parque de la Costa
amusement park. The first was developed by securing a concession in 1993 to operate the formerly state-owned Ferrocarril Central Argentino route between the northern Buenos Aires suburbs of Olivos
and Tigre
, in disuse since 1961. Following the recovery of derelict rails and stations, and the purchase of new equipment, the 16 km (10 mi) "Coastal Train" was inaugurated in April 1995, helping revive the largely upscale area's real estate market.
As the largest shareholder in Aguas Argentinas (with 20 percent), SCP profited by Soldati's decision in 1998 to sell its stake to Paris
-based Suez, which paid SCP US$150 million for its shares, or three times what Soldati's company had paid in 1993. The sale of the profitable unit was partly motivated by growing debts at SCP, however, whose revenue forecast was dampened by the local effects during 1995-96 of the Mexican peso crisis. Its US$715 million debt was nearly double its book value
, and in 1997, SCP divested itself of the natural gas processing
concerns had under its Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC) unit for US$230 million, most of which had to be earmarked for debt retirement.
Controlling CPC, the nation's second-largest construction company, Soldati shed a half ownership stake in the builder, as well as 100% of the BAN gas company, by 1998. SCP, however, defaulted on a US$25 million debt in April 1999, which effectively shut it out of the corporate bond
market. The principal drain on the group's finances had reportedly been its US$400 million investment in the two, suburban Buenos Aires tourist attractions: the Tren and Parque de la Costa. Though a majority stake in the latter was sold, their ongoing losses and service costs on their startup debt continued to stymy SCP's balance sheet.
Negotiations with creditors followed, but a lawsuit filed against SCP by US-based Reef Exploration in 2000 over the sale of a subsidiary to Shell Petroleum led to Soldati's decision to file for SCP's bankruptcy in September of that year. The sale of a number of energy related interests to Techint
, the Argentine multinational registered in Luxembourg
, could not rescue SCP from bankruptcy, and in 2004, Soldati divested it of 81% of its CGC unit, which was sold to local household chemicals maker The Value Brand.
That year, SCP's bankruptcy was approved in court, which granted it an 80% discharge of a debt which had grown to US$1.2 billion, by then. The discharge allowed SCP to enter into a modest venture with Millicom
, a Luxembourg-based mobile phone network provider, which resulted in Latin America's first WiMax
network.
SCP's legal problems continued, however, as the bankruptcy ruling had been appealed by a commercial court
prosecutor in 2006, and in October 2009, the Argentine Supreme Court struck down the earlier ruling, citing irregularities in the shareholders' meeting convened to approve the bankruptcy.
Citing his having reached retirement age, Soldati stepped down as the President of SCP on December 31, 2009.
Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange is the organization responsible for the operation of Argentina's primary stock exchange located at Buenos Aires CBD. Founded in 1854, is the successor of the Banco Mercantil, created in 1822 by Bernardino Rivadavia.Citing BCBA's self definition: "It is a...
: COME) is a diversified Argentine holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, with interests primarily in the energy, rail transport, real estate, and tourism sectors.
Overview
Sociedad Comercial del Plata was founded in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
on June 7, 1927, and became a holding company with varied interests, primarily real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
. Francisco Soldati (a nephew of José Francisco Soldati, the owner of the city's largest utility, the Italian-Argentine Electric Company, and founder of the Villa Lugano
Villa Lugano
Villa Lugano is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the West of the city. It has a population of approximately 114,000 people....
ward of Buenos Aires) bought controlling interest in SCP in 1965, and expanded the company into petroleum transport; he ultimately lost his life in a November 1979 bombing carried out by the far-left Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
terrorist group, in one of their last attacks.
His son, Francisco, became President of SCP in 1976. SCP remained focused on its fuel and electricity, and established a realty, Del Plata Propiedades, though the group's growth was hampered by the debt and inflation crisis in the local economy during the 1980s. The younger Francisco Soldati died in a polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
accident in April 1991.
His younger brother, Santiago Soldati
Santiago Soldati
Santiago Soldati is a prominent Argentine businessman.-Career:Santiago Soldati was born to Francisco Soldati, a nephew of the founder of the Villa Lugano neighborhood of Buenos Aires, José Francisco Soldati, and the owner of the city's largest utility, the Italian-Argentine Electric Company...
, took control of SCP at a time when Argentine President Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo
Domingo Cavallo
Domingo Felipe "Mingo" Cavallo is an Argentine economist and politician. He has a long history of public service and is known for implementing the Convertibilidad plan, which fixed the dollar-peso exchange rate at 1:1 between 1991 and 2001, which brought the Argentine inflation rate down from over...
were advancing an ambitious privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
s policy. SCP became a minority shareholder in newly privatized television, telephone
Communications in Argentina
Communications in Argentina gives an overview of the postal, telephone, Internet, radio, television, and newspaper services available in Argentina.-Postal:...
, natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, electricity
Electricity sector in Argentina
The electricity sector in Argentina constitutes the third largest power market in Latin America. It relies mostly on thermal generation and hydropower generation , with new renewable energy technologies barely exploited. The country still has a large untapped hydroelectric potential...
, freight rail
Rail transport in Argentina
The Argentine railway network comprised of track at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in South America. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up...
services, as well as the metro Buenos Aires water utility
Water supply and sanitation in Argentina
Water supply and sanitation in Argentina is characterized by relatively low tariffs, mostly reasonable service quality, low levels of metering and high levels of consumption for those with access to services. At the same time, according to the WHO, 21% of the total population remains without access...
. These became Telefé
Telefe
Televisión Federal S.A., best known as Telefe and later as TLF, is an Argentine television network. Formerly known as Canal Once , a state-run network, it was privatised and established as Telefe in 1989, when and News Corporation took over the channel...
, Telefónica de Argentina, Transportadora de Gas del Norte, Transener
Transener
Transener is the leading Argentine company in the transmission of extra high voltage electric power.The company owns the national extra high voltage transmission network, comprising almost 8,800 kilometers of transmission lines...
, Ferroexpreso Pampeano
Ferroexpreso Pampeano
Ferroexpreso Pampeano S.A. is a private company which, in August 1991, was awarded a concession, granted by the Argentine government, for the operation of freight services over a broad gauge rail network comprising sections which, before nationalisation of the railways in 1948, were operated by...
and Aguas Argentinas, respectively, during the early 1990s. SCP also gained control of water utilities in Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
, La Plata
La Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....
, and Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
.
Soldati invested part of SCP's earnings into two tourist attractions: the Tren de la Costa
Tren de la Costa
Tren de la Costa is a suburban , 11-station light rail line in Greater Buenos Aires, between Maipú Avenue station in the northern suburb of Olivos and Delta station in Tigre, on the Río de la Plata...
railway, and the Parque de la Costa
Parque de la Costa
Parque de la Costa is an amusement park located in Tigre, a northern suburb of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.-Development:The park, located on a 14 hectare lot along the Paraná River Delta , was developed by Santiago Soldati, whose family holding company, SCP, had been bolstered by record...
amusement park. The first was developed by securing a concession in 1993 to operate the formerly state-owned Ferrocarril Central Argentino route between the northern Buenos Aires suburbs of Olivos
Olivos, Buenos Aires
Olivos is an Argentine city in Vicente López Partido in the Province of Buenos Aires and a suburb within the Greater Buenos Aires metro area....
and Tigre
Tigre, Buenos Aires
Tigre is a town in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, situated in the north of Greater Buenos Aires, north of Buenos Aires city. Tigre lies on the Paraná Delta and is an important tourist and weekend attraction, easily reached by bus and train services, including the scenic Tren de la Costa...
, in disuse since 1961. Following the recovery of derelict rails and stations, and the purchase of new equipment, the 16 km (10 mi) "Coastal Train" was inaugurated in April 1995, helping revive the largely upscale area's real estate market.
As the largest shareholder in Aguas Argentinas (with 20 percent), SCP profited by Soldati's decision in 1998 to sell its stake to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
-based Suez, which paid SCP US$150 million for its shares, or three times what Soldati's company had paid in 1993. The sale of the profitable unit was partly motivated by growing debts at SCP, however, whose revenue forecast was dampened by the local effects during 1995-96 of the Mexican peso crisis. Its US$715 million debt was nearly double its book value
Book value
In accounting, book value or carrying value is the value of an asset according to its balance sheet account balance. For assets, the value is based on the original cost of the asset less any depreciation, amortization or Impairment costs made against the asset. Traditionally, a company's book value...
, and in 1997, SCP divested itself of the natural gas processing
Natural gas processing
Natural-gas processing is a complex industrial process designed to clean raw natural gas by separating impurities and various non-methane hydrocarbons and fluids to produce what is known as pipeline quality dry natural gas.-Background:...
concerns had under its Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC) unit for US$230 million, most of which had to be earmarked for debt retirement.
Controlling CPC, the nation's second-largest construction company, Soldati shed a half ownership stake in the builder, as well as 100% of the BAN gas company, by 1998. SCP, however, defaulted on a US$25 million debt in April 1999, which effectively shut it out of the corporate bond
Corporate bond
A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. It is a bond that a corporation issues to raise money in order to expand its business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date...
market. The principal drain on the group's finances had reportedly been its US$400 million investment in the two, suburban Buenos Aires tourist attractions: the Tren and Parque de la Costa. Though a majority stake in the latter was sold, their ongoing losses and service costs on their startup debt continued to stymy SCP's balance sheet.
Negotiations with creditors followed, but a lawsuit filed against SCP by US-based Reef Exploration in 2000 over the sale of a subsidiary to Shell Petroleum led to Soldati's decision to file for SCP's bankruptcy in September of that year. The sale of a number of energy related interests to Techint
Techint
Techint is a conglomerate multinational company founded in Milan in September 1945 by Italian industrialist Agostino Rocca and headquartered in Milan and Buenos Aires . Techint comprises more than 100 companies operating worldwide in the following areas of business: Engineering & Construction,...
, the Argentine multinational registered in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, could not rescue SCP from bankruptcy, and in 2004, Soldati divested it of 81% of its CGC unit, which was sold to local household chemicals maker The Value Brand.
That year, SCP's bankruptcy was approved in court, which granted it an 80% discharge of a debt which had grown to US$1.2 billion, by then. The discharge allowed SCP to enter into a modest venture with Millicom
Millicom
Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo, is a mobile phone network provider in America and Africa. Based in Luxembourg, the company provides mobile services in 14 countries. With operations across Central America, South America, South-east Asia, and Africa, using GSM, CDMA and TDMA on...
, a Luxembourg-based mobile phone network provider, which resulted in Latin America's first WiMax
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
network.
SCP's legal problems continued, however, as the bankruptcy ruling had been appealed by a commercial court
Commercial court
The Commercial Court is a sub-division of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, the major civil court in England. It is based in the Royal Courts of Justice....
prosecutor in 2006, and in October 2009, the Argentine Supreme Court struck down the earlier ruling, citing irregularities in the shareholders' meeting convened to approve the bankruptcy.
Citing his having reached retirement age, Soldati stepped down as the President of SCP on December 31, 2009.