Obrascón Huarte Lain

Obrascón Huarte Lain, S.A. (Spanish pronunciation: [oβɾasˈkon ˈwarte ˈlain]), or OHL, is a Spanish-based multinational construction and civil engineering company. The company is involved in infrastructure and commercial property construction, homebuilding and the operation of toll road and other transport concessions. In the latter, the group is particularly active in Brazil through its majority-owned subsidiary OHL Brasil and in Mexico with OHL México. OHL also has a majority-owned American subsidiary called Tower-OHL Group which is based in Miami, Florida.

OHL was founded by the $900 million merger in 1999 of the firms Obrascón-Huarte and Construcciones Lain. Since July 2008 the company has been a constituent of the benchmark IBEX 35 stock market index on the Bolsa de Madrid.

History

The company's roots stretch back to May 1911 and the foundation of Sociedad General de Obras y Construcciones Obrascón, S.A., whose first project was the construction of two wharfs in the Port of Lisbon. The company grew over the decades, being acquired first by the Banco de Bilbao in 1953 and then by Altos Hornos de Vizcaya 20 years later. Obrascón fell into financial difficulties in the late 1980s, however, and was bought from bankruptcy for one penny in 1987 by Juan-Miguel Villar Mir, who remains the company's chairman today. Villar turned around the firm's fortunes and it listed on the Bolsa de Madrid in 1991.