With 191 years of history, Alier is one of the oldest paper mills in Spain. A survivor. The last major crisis of this company from Rosselló (Segrià) was in 2014, when it presented a voluntary bankruptcy proceedings which it managed to survive, but not without undergoing important changes: the Pereira family of Argentine businessmen, through the Green Future Investments fund. , acquired 95% of the property from the Alier family.
“With the entry of Green Future Investments, in 2018, ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) criteria began to be applied and now Alier is once again a profitable company with healthy debt,” he says. Valentín Rossi, who joined the company with the arrival of the Pereiras and now serves as general director. In 2022, the company achieved record turnover, close to 200 million euros, with sales to more than 30 countries on all continents, with the Middle East being the main market with between 25% and 30% of the business.
Sustainability is Alier's other big bet. The company has proposed to be neutral in greenhouse gas emissions before 2025. To this end, together with the energy company Engie, it is finalizing the implementation of a forest biomass plant for the generation of thermal and electrical energy that will allow it dispense with gas of fossil origin. The installation has involved an investment of 25 million euros.
To disconnect from the electrical grid, Alier plans to allocate six million to the installation of 10 MW in photovoltaic solar panels, but the park is pending permits (also the biomass plant). On the other hand, the company wants to reduce its water consumption by between 30% and 40% thanks to a project that will involve an investment of six million, of which three come from European funds.
The investments, together with the effort to increase the presence of women (they now represent 17% of the workforce compared to 9% in 2010), have earned it the distinction of being a BCorp company. It has also been recognized as the Best Company in Catalonia 2023 by the Generalitat.
