Early years The Monterrey Group empire derived from the founding in Monterrey of
Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc, a brewery, in 1890 by Jose Calderon Penilla, Isaac Garza Garza, and two others. In 1936 the family holdings, already vast, were divided into two separate
industrial groups. One of these, Valores Industriales S.A. (Visa), established Hojalata y Laminas S.A. (Hylsa) to make steel sheet for the
bottle caps of its beverages during World War II, when the United States cut steel supplies to Mexico to meet its own needs.
Hylsa became the largest privately run
steel mill in Mexico, a fully integrated complex with activities ranging from mining and processing iron ore to finished products. In 1957 it patented HyL, a system of direct reduction known as
fire sponging. One of the two heads
Eugenio Garza Sada, of the Monterrey Group, was murdered in 1973 in what was described as an abortive
kidnapping by left-wing terrorists, but before this happened, he and his brother
Roberto Garza Sada had divided the company into two parts.
Bernardo Garza Sada, Roberto's son, became chairman of Grupo Industrial Alfa, S.A., which inherited Hylsa and many other industrial enterprises, including Empaques de Carton Titan, a packaging company founded in 1926; Nylon de Mexico (
synthetic fibers), founded in 1952; and Polioles (chemicals), founded in 1962. "There is no falling out", one source explained to
The New York Times. "But there was a real problem as to who would be next 'supreme,' so they juggled the shares within the family and divided the group." ==Notes==