Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anónima (IRSA)
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Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anónima (IRSA) is the leading real estate development firm in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. Its controlled by Cresud S.A. ( NASDAQbr>CRESY
in a 64%.


Overview

IRSA (Investments and Brokerage, Inc.) was founded as a
realty In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affix ...
by Eduardo Elsztain, an Argentine Jewish immigrant, in 1943. The small independent realty, based in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, grew slowly and, as late as 1991, had a book value of around US$120,000. That year, the firm was purchased by a partnership composed of Marcelo Mindlin and
Eduardo Elsztain Eduardo Sergio Elsztain (born January 26, 1960) is a prominent Argentine businessman who is his country's largest real-estate developer. According to ''The Jerusalem Post'', Elsztain "stands atop Argentina's largest business empire, the country's ...
, the founder's grandson, who had recently obtained support from international financier
George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...
.Salbuchi, Adrian. ''Eduardo Elsztain: el dueño de la tierra en Argentina''. The partnership with Soros became profitable for both parties, as the
Argentine economy The economy of Argentina is the second-largest national economy in South America, behind Brazil. Argentina is a developing country with a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. ...
recovered during the 1990s from the severe
stagflation In economics, stagflation or recession-inflation is a situation in which the inflation rate is high or increasing, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high. It presents a dilemma for economic policy, since actio ...
of the previous decade. IRSA entered the international equity markets with Soros' backing in 1994, raising US$110 million, and purchased three Buenos Aires office buildings and a leading local
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
developer, Alto Palermo S.A. (APSA), in 1996. The firm's APSA unit later purchased Buenos Aires Design,
Galerías Pacífico Galerías Pacífico is a shopping centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located at the intersection of Florida Street and Córdoba Avenue. Overview The Beaux Arts building was designed by the architects Emilio Agrelo and Roland Le Vacher in 1889 to ...
,
Patio Bullrich Patio Bullrich is a shopping center located in the Retiro neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The building was originally an auction house owned by the Bullrich family, where cattle and pieces of art were auctioned.
, Patio Olmos, and a number of other leading Argentine shopping centers, as well as important tourist assets such as the
Llao Llao Hotel The Llao Llao Hotel is located in the tourist resort of San Carlos de Bariloche within the Río Negro, Argentina. This famous hotel is situated in the foothills of the Andes on a hill between the Moreno Lake and Nahuel Huapi lakes. Information ...
, a
Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park ...
mountain resort privatized in 1997. The following year, the firm redeveloped the historic Abasto de Buenos Aires, a landmark
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
former wholesale market. The firm, by then, also owned 13 of the most important commercial office buildings in Buenos Aires, enjoying occupancy rates of 97%, and some of the city's highest rents. IRSA also ventured into the agricultural sector by being purchased by Cresud S.A. in 1994. Cresud became a leading landowner of prime
pampas The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...
agricultural land, controlling over a million hectares (2.5 million acres), as well as acquiring a significant stake in BrasilAgro. Losses stemming from the
Argentine economic crisis Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
that began in 1998 led to Soros' divesting most of his IRSA interests, and by late 1999, the
Soros Fund Management Soros Fund Management, LLC is a private American investment management firm. It is currently structured as a family office, but formerly as a hedge fund. The firm was founded in 1970 by George Soros and, in 2010, was reported to be one of the mos ...
held 7% of the firm's stock. IRSA was forced to retrench somewhat, selling its
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n interests and the historic
Galerías Pacífico Galerías Pacífico is a shopping centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located at the intersection of Florida Street and Córdoba Avenue. Overview The Beaux Arts building was designed by the architects Emilio Agrelo and Roland Le Vacher in 1889 to ...
arcade. The group's losses totaled US$590 million during the 1999–2002 crisis, equal to Soros' total return in the venture during the 1990s. Responsible for half the group's net sales, its seven remaining shopping centers boosted the firm's income following the strong recovery in the Argentine economy after 2002, however, and in 2008, it developed Dot Baires, a 190,000m² (2 million ft²) shopping center and the largest building of its kind in Argentina. The company resumed its purchases of office buildings during the recovery. Notable among these was Bouchard Plaza in 2007, which brought the number of such buildings in its portfolio to 17. It also purchased one of three remaining undeveloped lots in the Catalinas Norte office park in 2009. IRSA continued to expand into the mortgage lending sector, purchasing 28% of the formerly
state owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an Industry (economics), industry, asset, or Business, enterprise by the State (polity), state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to a ...
Banco Hipotecario Banco Hipotecario ( BCBAbr>BHIP is a commercial bank and mortgage lender in Argentina. Overview The institution was chartered on September 24, 1886, as the ''Banco Hipotecario Nacional'' (''National Mortgage Bank'') by a bill (Law 1804) signed b ...
, and into the farming and ranching sectors, acquiring the local subsidiary of
Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...
-based Cactus Feeders in 2009, as well as into the large
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian real estate market, establishing IRSA-Cyrela (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 economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
with Cyrela Brazil Realty).IRSA-Cyrela


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inversiones Y Representaciones Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange Real estate companies of Argentina Companies based in Buenos Aires Real estate companies established in 1943 Argentine companies established in 1943 Multinational companies headquartered in Argentina