It is a diversified group of businesses, mainly industrial, that produces petrochemicals, aluminum auto components, and refrigerated foods.

Hylsa became the largest privately run steel mill in Mexico, a fully integrated complex with activities ranging from mining and processing iron ore to finished products.

"[2] Under Bernardo Garza Sada's leadership Alfa diversified from its base into petrochemicals, synthetic fibers, capital machinery, farm equipment, television sets, and tourism.

"[2] Although Alfa formed joint ventures with Hercules and American Petrofina to produce polyester, Du Pont to produce other synthetic fibers, Ford to turn out aluminum cylinder heads, and Hitachi to make electric motors, it insisted on control.

Many of the lower-management people had no practical experience, while the experienced upper management took charge of firms about which they knew very little.

The company unwisely abandoned its prudent traditional policy of only integrating firms that had similar or complementary products.

Before the year was out the government had extended Alfa an emergency aid package of 12 billion pesos ($480 million).

In July 1982 it presented a restructuring plan that called for it to sell one-fourth of its assets over a five-year period.

Under a complex arrangement, the creditor banks forgave $920 million in Alfa's debt in return for 45 percent of its stock.

By the end of 1988 it had sold most of its food, and all of its tourism, real estate, and electric home-appliance holdings, retaining only two dozen subsidiaries.

"There are no family members in important executive positions", Business Latin America wrote, "and this has contributed to a more professional and predictable management style.

The agreements allowed Hylsa to spend as much as $165 million over the next five years in capital expenditures, thereby giving it the opportunity to continue trying to compete in a crowded industry.

[2] Alfa celebrated the restructuring of its debts with an elaborate outdoor mass on a Monterrey baseball field in 1988, attended by 10,000 employees.

That year it sold its 51 percent stake in one of the Monterrey Group's oldest holdings, the paper and packaging subsidiary Empaques de Carton Titan.

[2] When Dionisio Garza Medina, a nephew of Bernardo Garza Sada, became chairman in 1994, he fired half of Alfa's middle managers and focused on restoring higher profitability to the company's three main business sectors: steel, petrochemicals, and food.

Hylsa (now Hylsamex) and Sigma Alimentos, the food subsidiary, received their own separate stock listings to reduce their dependence on the parent company.

"If you look at the profile of our strategy", Garza Medina told a The Wall Street Journal reporter, "we are going from a commodity company into more value-added products", with higher profit margins.

This company was involved in the entire steelmaking process from mining iron ore to manufacturing and distributing steel products.

[2] Alfa's subsidiary Alpek, S.A. de C.V. was engaged in the manufacture of petrochemicals and synthetic fibers for use primarily as raw materials in the textile, food, beverage, packaging, construction, and automotive industries.

[2] Versax, S.A. de C.V. was an Alfa subsidiary engaged in the production of aluminum cylinder heads and in three other industries: carpets and rugs, mattresses, and building supplies.