In a statement, CIP highlighted that António Mota was “African at heart,” referencing the significance of Angola in launching Mota & Companhia, the group’s initial company that expanded across three continents in the 21st century.
The confederation noted that “Mota-Engil now engages in oil businesses in Brazil, gold mining in Armenia, and high-speed railways in Portugal, […] with Mexico having become the group’s largest market in the past decade.”
CIP’s presidency also emphasized that, as the CEO of Mota-Engil, “António Mota accelerated the growth of the construction company and paved the way for the business diversification witnessed today.”
“He successfully recruited experienced figures from national governance to drive the company forward and assist in interpreting market trends and identifying emerging geographies,” continued the statement.
“António Mota invested in the company’s strategic hubs in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, yet maintained Mota-Engil as what it has always been: a family-run, Portuguese, European company headquartered in Lisbon,” the press release added.
According to CIP, the appointment of Carlos Mota Santos, António Mota’s nephew, to the group’s leadership “exemplified creating a future and expanding horizons for a multinational company that today employs 52,000 workers and operates in 21 countries.”
Regarding the group’s internationalization, CIP also remarked that “the way António Mota embraced strategic decisions and made his group more competitive in the global market is commendable and serves as an inspiration for other companies.”
“CIP extends its heartfelt condolences to António Mota’s family and all Mota-Engil employees in over two dozen countries,” concludes the statement.
Former Mota-Engil president António Mota passed away on Sunday in Porto at the age of 71.
Born in 1954 in Amarante, António Mota was the sole male child among four siblings and was groomed from an early age by his father, who had only a fourth-grade education, to succeed him at the helm of the construction company founded in 1946.
He graduated in Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), spending holidays during his studies interning at various Mota & Companhia projects.
Preferring a ‘low profile,’ António Mota cherished weekends with family and valued the family-oriented nature of the construction company he led. His leadership was marked by a strategy to diversify the group’s activities, venturing into new areas such as road concessions, port operations, waste, water, and logistics.
Currently present in 21 countries spanning Europe, Africa, and the Americas, Mota-Engil’s main shareholders are the Mota family ‘holding’ (MGP) with 40.19% and Epoch Capital Investments B.V. with 32.41%, being listed on PSI, the main index of Euronext Lisbon.
Mota-Engil reported attributable profits of 92 million euros for the first nine months of this year, a 20% year-on-year increase, while business volume during this period reached 4.090 billion euros, a 1.4% decline from the same period last year.
