In 1879 Francisco de las Rivas y Ubieta, Marquis of Mudela, bought the land of the Carmelites, from the confiscation and the «Cantabrian Iron Co Limited» to install the factory «San Francisco del Desierto».
In 1882, the «Nuestra Señora del Carmen» factory was modernised. «Ibarra Hermanos y Cía» became the «Sociedad Altos Hornos y Fábricas de hierro y acero de Bilbao».
In 1882 the brothers Víctor and Benigno Chavarri Salazar and several partners formed the «Sociedad Metalúrgica y Construcciones La Vizcaya» which put into operation its blast furnaces in 1885.
The «La Iberia» tin plate factory was created in 1887 when the company «Goitia y Cía» was transformed into a public limited company, which was installed in 1887 on the land of «La Vizcaya».
On April 29, 1902, the «Altos Hornos y Fábricas de hierro y acero de Bilbao», «Sociedad Metalúrgica y Construcciones La Vizcaya» and «La Iberia» were merged, and the resulting company was renamed «Altos Hornos de Vizcaya», with a payroll of 6,139 jobs at that time.
«Altos Hornos de Vizcaya» acquired the «San Francisco del Desierto» factory in 1924.
The merger of the large steel companies gave rise to a powerful and competitive company: «Altos Hornos de Vizcaya», which has been one of the cornerstones of the economy and society of Biscay throughout the twentieth century.
