Panama in the Mirgor Group's plan to become a multinational
The Caputo family company already has operations in a dozen countries in the region and its CEO, José Luis Alonso, says that the international division plans to close the year with a turnover of US$250 million, with a focus on the distribution and marketing of mobile phones and electronics, although it is considering venturing into new areas.
Source: La Nación
The Mirgor Group of Argentina, which received approval to operate under the Multinational Company Headquarters regime, has begun its expansion in Panama.
In the last two years, the group undertook its international expansion plan, managing to establish operations in Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and, now, in Panama. Mirgor has been in the Argentine market for more than 40 years and has begun an international expansion plan that included Panama.
The debut abroad took place in 2021 with the inauguration of a first commercial office in Uruguay, at the request of Samsung, one of its strategic partners in Argentina. And three years later, the group controlled by the Caputo family already has a presence in 14 countries in the region – including the United States, several Central American countries and most South American markets – and an international division turnover that this year will reach US$250 million.
“The first steps across borders were accompanying Samsung, which invited us to open offices first in Uruguay and then in Paraguay. The intention of the brand was to support it in countries where it was already operating with other partners, but they did not have the 360 service that we provide in Argentina,” explains Mirgor CEO José Luis Alonso, a petroleum engineer who before joining Mirgor in 2016, worked at YPF and Perez Companc and in international companies such as Haldor Topsoe, the largest engineering company in Denmark, and the Chilean construction company Salfacorp.
Mirgor also highlights that in Argentina Samsung has a share of cell phones that is between 47 and 49%, which is about ten points more than in other countries in the region, although with the exception that in the local market Apple does not compete directly (every year 750,000 iPhones are activated in the Argentine market).
José Luis Alonso: "Today we have almost 90 Samsung points of sale in Argentina, which have nothing to envy of the brand's stores in markets like the United States. And that is why the company sought us out to give them support in other markets."
To advance in regional expansion, Mirgor set up a first logistics hub in Miami and from the state of Florida, in the US, they now serve a dozen markets (the list includes Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras and the Dominican Republic), where they are in charge of the logistics of cell phones for different brands.
The group plans to develop in Panama the different business verticals that have positioned it as a leader in the region, in addition to exploring new areas that allow it to continue innovating and generating value.
Santiago Gómez Brumana, Mirgor's Regional Commercial Vice President, highlighted at a recent launch event that the landing in Panama will not only generate great alliances, but will also contribute to the development of the local market through innovation.
Mirgor has maintained an alliance with Samsung for 10
years, in which it supports the value chain process: production, distribution
and marketing of its products.