The company originated in 1830, when the first sugar cane fields were planted by José Ramírez Ovejero González in Ledesma – a remote rural hamlet located in the San Francisco River valley, in Jujuy Province.

[1] Enrique Wollmann and Carlos Delcasse purchased the company in 1911, subsequently investing in technology and in increasing production capacity.

Arrieta also diversified the company, establishing a cellulose and paper plant based on insourced sugar cane fiber.

He purchased numerous estancias in Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires Provinces (La Biznaga, La Bellaca, Magdala, and Centella), and incorporated the production of beef and cereals into the portfolio; purchased the Villa Mercedes, San Luis-based Glucovil in 1982, and established a wet-milling plant for the production of ethanol, corn starch and corn syrup;[2] purchased extensive citrus fruit orchards in Jujuy and Salta Provinces, and in 1990 established a concentrate facility; opened a school supplies maker in Villa Mercedes in 1994; and established UTE Aguaragüe, a gas and petroleum producer, among other investments.

The following year, however, Ledesma was at the center of a controversy stemming from the illegal occupation of 15 hectares (37 acres) of land belonging to the company in Jujuy Province by 700 indigent families; following incidents during their eviction in August that resulted in four deaths, the Provincial Legislature expropriated 40 hectares (99 acres) of the company's land.