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Plácido Arango, founder of Vips, dies at 88

2020-02-17T16:19:29.344Z


The businessman, of Mexican nationality, was also an art collector


The businessman Plácido Arango has died at age 88 in Madrid, as his son Paco has announced on social networks. Arango was known above all for being the founder of the Vips Group, a company that owns brands such as Vips, Fridays, Gino's and Starbucks in Spain. He had sold the company in 2018 to the Mexican firm Alsea.

"Today a great man has gone to the light, with a wonderful heart, generous to all and a gentleman from head to toe. He has been a wonderful father and I have reserved a suite for him in the best hotel in heaven. 'I will miss you very much, "Paco Arango wrote on his Twitter account.

Plácido Arango was born in Tampico, Mexico, in 1931. He was the son of Asturian immigrants, Jerónimo Arango Díaz and María Luisa Arias Fernández. However, he wanted to return to Spain, where he settled in 1966. He had dual nationality, Spanish and Mexican. He studied Economics and was a Doctor in Economic Sciences from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico.

Three years after arriving in Spain, Arango created the Vips group. The company grew and became a classic, especially in Madrid, to have about half a thousand stores. In 2018, at the time of the sale to the Mexican group Zena for 500 million euros, it counted 450 stores. The agreement with the Mexican group included that Arango and his family, together with the ProA Capital fund, co-owner of Vips, would keep 8% of the chain's capital through a corporate movement.

The businessman was not only dedicated to the restoration. Shortly after settling in Spain, he also founded the Aurrera supermarket chain, which would sell in 1975 to the Preciados Galleries department store, which would later be transferred to El Corte Inglés.

Arango was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Prado Museum since 1986 and became its president between 2007 and 2012. He was an art collector and donated works to the museum of which he was the patron and also to the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias. Arango, in addition, was closely linked to the Principality of Asturias, where he was president of the Princess of Asturias Foundation between 1987 and 1996. He was also a member of the BBVA Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the National Library and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, among others.

During his life he was awarded the Grand Cross of Isabel la Católica and Civil Merit, a gold medal for Fine Arts and with the Juan Lladó prize for cultural patronage.

Source: elparis

All business articles on 2020-02-17

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