It all began in the late 19th century... Alfredo da Silva, recognized as the greatest Portuguese industrialist, was the man responsible for creating the first industrial, commercial and financial group in Portugal: Companhia União Fabril, or CUF, which resulted from the merger of two smaller chemical companies, União Fabril and Companhia Aliança Fabril. In the early 20th century, CUF had already become the biggest Portuguese group. It had an industrial complex in Barreiro that was unrivaled in terms of its cutting-edge technology, business development and institutional modernity. Accounting for 5% of the country's GDP, it comprised more than 100 companies, produced more than 1,000 products, and employed 110,000 people. The scope of the business areas in which it operated was simply fascinating: shipbuilding, fertilizers, textiles, acids, edible oils and many more. It was one of the very few groups capable of surviving two world wars, thanks to Alfredo da Silva's activity, courage, perspicacity and tenacity. However, in April 1974, the social and political instability caused by the collapse of the dictatorship in Portugal dealt CUF a death blow; it was the end of a successful group.
