Nicolás Mihanovich

Nicolás Mihanovich (1844–1929) was a Croatian Argentine businessman closely linked to the development of the Argentine merchant marine.

Nicolás Mihanovich was born Nikola Mihanović in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in what is today Croatia, in 1844. Self-educated, he arrived in Buenos Aires in the 1860s and formed a partnership with two of his countrymen: Gerónimo Zuanich and Octavio Cosulich. Operating five steam ships by 1879, the group initiated scheduled transports from Buenos Aires to the then-remote outposts of Bahía Blanca and Carmen de Patagones. The new route's success led to the purchase of the 1,500-ton Watergeus, which received a materials transport contract from the rapidly expanding Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, and to the 1887 establishment of the first ferry service between Buenos Aires and Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay).

Already the majority stakeholder in Nicolás Mihanovich y Compañía, he bought out his partners in 1888. Facing increasing competition in the late 1880s, the Mihanovich Company's strong financial base put it in a position of great advantage following the ruinous Panic of 1890, which began in Argentina when the overissuance of local bonds by the Barings Bank led to their collapse in value. The first major steam ship operator to fold was La Platense, whose assets of over 1.2 million gold pesos (a similar amount in US$) Mihanovich was able to purchase in 1894 for only 92,000.

An ongoing rivalry with Saturnino Ribes' Las Mensajerías (so named for its prominence in the mail transport business) led to a trust arrangement between the two, whereby Mihanovich ceded control of Uruguay River shipping to Ribes, who was given control of the Paraná. Ribes' death in 1897, however, left Las Mensajerías in the hands of heirs opposed to the previous arrangement, though the Mihanovich Company's strength forced the Ribes heirs to sell the company. Purchasing Las Mensajerías for 450,000 gold pesos, and smaller rivals Giuliani and Balparado as well, the massive Sociedad Anónima Nicolás Mihanovich was incorporated in 1898; by then, the group operated over 200 steamers.

...
Wikipedia