BEFESA

The company Befesa Medio Ambiente was established in 1993 by several companies: Berzelius Umwelt Service (BUS), Duro Felguera, and Indumetal, which pooled their environmental assets in Spain into "Befesa".

This resulted in the creation of the company Berzelius Felguera, Befesa, which then commenced its activities with the companies Aser (now Befesa Zinc Aser) and Rontealde (now Befesa Desulfuración) in Biscay, Prisma in Madrid, Cida Hidroquímica in Barcelona, and Felguera Fluidos in Gijon (Asturias). In addition, Prisma incorporated its subsidiaries Aurecan, in Huelva, and Alfagran (later Befesa Plásticos), in Murcia.

Befesa has developed mainly through the acquisition of extremely interesting environmental companies and through the creation of other companies in order to undertake activities thatwere not being carried out in Spain at the time or, if they had been, it was not being done in an efficient manner.

As a result, Befesa took on extra added value and strategic importance, which allowed it, in 1999, to become a listed company. The company changed its name to Befesa Medio Ambiente, S.A. prior to its listing. In 2000, there was a significant change in the shareholding following the agreement reached by Abengoa, S.A. with the then main shareholder, BUS Beteiligungs GmBH, in order to acquire all of the shares it held at that time (50.01%).

After the afore-said agreement, the company ASA Environment & Energy Holding AG (a 100% owned subsidiary of Abengoa, S.A.) made a public takeover bid ("OPA" in Spanish) for 100% of Befesa’s shares, which was authorized by the NSEC (National Securities and Exchange Commission) in 2000. As a result of this OPA, Abengoa acquired an additional 82.59% of Befesa’s shares and the companies BUS Beteiligungs GMBH, Inversiones Ibersuizas S.A., and Ibersuizas Participadas, S.A. ceased to be shareholders. Abengoa then held 90.52% of Befesa’s total share capital.

That same year, all the environmental activities which Abengoa, our main shareholder, conducted through the company Abensur (then, Befesa Agua), were integrated into Befesa. Fromthen on, Befesa began to develop and consolidate its water-related activities through conducting hydraulic activities, hydroelectric power plants, water processing and desalination works.

In December 2006, Befesa acquired the BUS Group AB (a founding member of Befesa), which carries out two types of activities: the recycling of electric arc furnace dust and the smelting and recycling of stainless steel plant dust. This buyout made Befesa a European leader in industrial waste recycling.

In 2008 the integration of Aluminio Catalán (Alcasa) and Befesa Reciclaje de Residuos de Aluminio was successfully completed, pursuant to the 2007 agreement. The resulting company is the leader in Spain and one of the main players in the European market of aluminum waste recycling.

At the start of 2010, the prestigious international publication Global Water Intelligence (GWI) staged its annual Global Water Awards to recognize and reward excellence within the international water industry. Befesa was awarded the “Best Project of 2009” distinction for its Qingdao desalination plant, in northern China.

The year 2010 also saw Befesa consolidate its international standing within the desalination sector.On the one hand, the company secured several important contracts in a number of different territories, such as the Djerba desalination plant (Tunisia) and work to expand the Brasov and Videle treatment plants (Romania), while on the other it started up commercial operations at the Skikda (Algeria) and Chennai (India) desalination plants and completed construction on the Honaine desalination plant (Algeria). Even though, towards the close of 2010, the company reached an agreement to sell its water engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business line to Abeinsa.

Following the closing of this transaction, which became effective on January the 1st 2011, Befesa kept the business of promotion, development and operation of water production plants, as well as technology and R & D & i associated, untill middle 2011, when Abengoa took a strategic decision to create a new business unit independent of Befesa, called Abengoa Water, which would develop the above activities.

Since then, Befesa focuses all its efforts on developing innovative technological solutions in the integrated management of industrial waste.

On the other hand, Befesa secured its presence in the Turkish steel dust recycling market at the end of September 2010 by signing a joint venture agreement with the Canadian company Silvermet Inc. to acquire a 51 % stake in the Waelz plant owned by the latter in Iskenderun (Turkey). The investment was channeled through the company Befesa Silvermet Turkey SL and required a total outlay of $10 M, most of which will be used to develop new technologies to treat electric arc furnace steel dust, the ultimate aim being to drive forward the company’s steel dust recycling business in the country. This venture has allowed Befesa to gain rapid entry into Turkey, a strategic market and one of the world’s main producers of electric arc furnace steel. It is also one of the emerging markets promising the greatest potential in terms of future growth within the sector.