PASA's outstanding shares. The Abumohor family, also active in textiles and, like the Saids, of Arab origin, held 10%. Two pension funds held a combined 24%. Parque Arauco Kennedy was Chile's largest shopping mall at the time, with annual sales of $500 million, while Plaza Vespucio ranked third, at $380 million. A medical tower was being constructed at Parque Arauco Kennedy, and an office building was being contemplated at a cost of $100 million. For Mall Arauco Maipú, PASA was considering building an additional medical tower and a high-rise apartment building. In 1999, PASA, in partnership with the Almacenes Paris and Ripley retail chain, completed the Marina Arauco Mall in Viña del Mar at a cost of $120 million. PASA malls accounted for 24% of Chile's shopping-center revenues in that year. Entry into Argentina PASA entered Argentina in the early 1990s, when the nation was emerging from a decade of economic crisis. In 1992, the company acquired a 25% share of the Centro Comercial Mendoza Plaza Shopping and later became a major investor in Argentine real estate in association with Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. (IRSA). In 1994, IRSA and PASA became partners in Sociedad Anónimo del Mercado de Abasto Provedor (Samap), a joint venture to convert the former produce market in Buenos Aires to a shopping mall. PASA donated its share of the Mendoza shopping center to Samap, while IRSA turned over its holding in Nuevo Noa Shopping, located in Salta City. In 1997, after Samap was renamed Alto Palermo S.A. (APSA), IRSA controlled 51%, while Parque Arauco controlled 35%. In 1997, Samap acquired Alto Palermo S.A. from the Pérez Company S.A. holding company. APSA held three Buenos Aires shopping centers: Alto Palermo, Alto Avellaneda, and Paseo Alcorta, plus 50.5% of a fourth, Buenos Aires Design. Abasto Shopping Center was completed in 1998 at a cost of about $112 million. Located in Balvanera, a formerly Jewish barrio that was also the stamping grounds of Carlos Gardel, Argentina's well-known tango dancer and singer, it occupied five levels, with 189 stores, a food court, a multiplex cinema, entertainment facilities, and a children's museum. Argentine recession The Argentine economic crisis culminated in the government defaulting on its debt and the devaluation of the Argentine peso at the end of 2001. APSA's market value declined from $390 million to as low as $40 million. The damage to PASA's finances inspired a shakeup of the